Overall an amazing game, visuals, the world, pvp, the RPG of it is all better than gw1 except the the weapon skills. I have no idea why they did it but its **** awful. it completely eliminates the strategy part of gw1 in favor of a more hack and slash system where any monkey with a keyboard could win.

Had a great start and tons of potential but the devs have squandered it. Storyline starts out great with your choices having impact but around halfway through it gets hijacked by a Mary Sue who saves the world for you. Graphics are marginally better than the originals and most of the music is recycled from GW. Gameplay is dull with each weapon having a locked set of skills leaving you withHad a great start and tons of potential but the devs have squandered it. Storyline starts out great with your choices having impact but around halfway through it gets hijacked by a Mary Sue who saves the world for you. Graphics are marginally better than the originals and most of the music is recycled from GW. Gameplay is dull with each weapon having a locked set of skills leaving you with 1 healing skill, 3 "utility" slots, and an elite skill. Most skills are bland because the devs have killed the "trinity" (aka an actual class system) leaving everyone being tanky DPS for dungeons and glass cannons for pvp. 4 months after launch and there are still tons of gameplay bugs, elite skills are almost all garbage (so bad that you forget to use them), CC & debuffs are unbalanced and boring (stuns last 1-2 seconds but cripple can stack to over a minute easily), and class customization is non-existent with barebone traits. The world is beautiful and at first fun to explore, but if you go for map completion the hearts are very tedious and all the starting zones feel the same. Endgame consists of unevenly difficult & boring dungeons, chaotic & pointless server vs. server PvP, KOTH PvP with cosmetics-only rewards, and grinding for hundreds of hours for "legendary" weapons. Overall, this is a terrible sequel and has nothing to do with the original Guild War series apart from races and some skill names. The devs are clearly building the game for the "WoW audience" and have not only abandoned their original fans but are actively alienating them.…Expand

So now we are 3 months into the game and after I gave a very favourable review I'm going to have to take it all back. It seems Arenanet are now turning this game into WoW 2.0 insofar as there will now be a gear treadmill which goes completely against their manifesto which they set out whilst developing the game.

This was a good game until Arenanet started lying to it's customers.So now we are 3 months into the game and after I gave a very favourable review I'm going to have to take it all back. It seems Arenanet are now turning this game into WoW 2.0 insofar as there will now be a gear treadmill which goes completely against their manifesto which they set out whilst developing the game.

This was a good game until Arenanet started lying to it's customers. Shame on you Anet, I thought better of you.…Expand

The game is good, world vs world is a lot of fun, structured pvp is also just as fun, questing is not as tedious as in most mmo's and has dynamic events which are fun to take part in, some of which can end up being tonnes of people taking part in. It is not without its flawes, overflow servers which you get put in when your server is full can become a pain as it makes it hard to groupThe game is good, world vs world is a lot of fun, structured pvp is also just as fun, questing is not as tedious as in most mmo's and has dynamic events which are fun to take part in, some of which can end up being tonnes of people taking part in. It is not without its flawes, overflow servers which you get put in when your server is full can become a pain as it makes it hard to group with friends. There is however a couple ways to join the same overflow server as your friends, like right clicking their portrait and clicking join them.. This sometimes does not work at this time in which case what u can do is exit the area and enter again until you join the same overflow, this method does NOT taking very long. The "auction house" has been down for 4 days now which is a big pain considering the small bank sizes.
Although i mentioned the structured pvp is fun, it is rather limited at this time with only 1 type of match (base control) with 2 maps. More variety in this area would be a great improvement. Customization is also sub par as from what ive seen so far all gear obtained while leveling is very similar, basically my character has barely changed aspect since i began, at least i can change the colour on the items when i get bored of the look.

Getting to some of the points of interest, vista points can be a challenge, and some of the jump puzzles are also a good challenge, nice way to pass some time when u get tired of the pvp or the pve and need a break.

Ive read some of the negative reviews, and most seem to be angry because they either didnt know how things worked or are not aware of the fact that ALL newly released games have bugs..
Others simply expected to gain an advantage over other players in pvp by spending more hours and getting better gear like usually happens in other MMO's. They dont seem to enjoy a level playing field.

All in all a very good MMORPG which has no monthly subscription, equal playing field for everyone in pvp and dynamic questing. The game does have its flaws, however the official release date is today, meaning there is plenty of room for it to improve in the future.…Expand

As I've been toying around with the pre-purchased head start, I've been enjoying myself in the universe of Guild Wars 2. Let me be fair by saying that I'm not a big MMO player (Tried several, and tend to get bored easily), and that I did play the original Guild Wars for a bit...

The quick n dirty: B. World feels alive. Fresh take on standard MMO quests. Fun classes. Excellent PvP.As I've been toying around with the pre-purchased head start, I've been enjoying myself in the universe of Guild Wars 2. Let me be fair by saying that I'm not a big MMO player (Tried several, and tend to get bored easily), and that I did play the original Guild Wars for a bit...

I think the game is pretty. It doesn't quite have the WoW cartoon style, but still sticks itself in a fantasy look. Easily scale-able to fit different machine configurations. Sure, if you've got a solid gaming PC - you'll not have any problem and you've probably seen tons better in different games before. But I feel that they work and fit the environment / atmosphere ArenaNet wants.

You do get 5 character slots (additional cost real world money). There are 5 different races and 8 classes. The races each have a fair amount of customization (some prebuild heads, hair, sliders to then adjust) to tweak your looks. Character classes, so far, all have a fairly unique design behind them. They feel fresh when you decide to branch out and try something else.

The environment is littered with random things to do. Dynamic Events replace the exclamation points. Sometimes they take a little while, as you could be one of three people doing a group collection quest. Other times, a whole raid worth of people will be there to utterly destroy whatever is happening. Random "boss style" encounters, defend X position, and other events appear as well just while you're out exploring. I prefer this to randomly running to a town, loading up on quests and setting out. Just feels like I'm out in the world and things are happening around me.

PvP and their W v W v W are pretty solid. Interesting. Dynamic. Definite team oriented combat slug fests. PvP you're boosted to max level, given appropiate leveled gear, and access to skills / talents for your level. Creates a fairly even playing field for you to go toe to toe against others in. Realm Fighting I haven't dove into much yet - but ganking is going to happen. Once again, Boosted to max level, but not with the gear (I think..) and skills I'm unsure of. With a team / guild, however, it'll be lots of fun.

I have yet to really get involved in crafting. Its more complex than other MMOs I've seen. Something that you could really loose yourself in for awhile. And it gives experience.... so those super crafty people may just harvest and build for their levels.

Lastly, price point. This is what sells it for me. The game costs as much as most new boxed games (and same price when MMOs first come out too). There isn't any monthly cost afterword. Sure, there are some item shop things (costumes, particular looks, extra character slots, boost potions), but I can go at my pace and leisure. I'm not a big fan of paying per month. And there is quite a bit of content.…Expand

Cons:
Skill selection is highly limited to certain dedicated slots
Overflow (hopefully temporary) is highly irritating, especially when trying to coop with friends
There can be some level gaps when advancing through the story that force you to grind out a level or two
Clunky inventory/banking system
High repair and fast travel costs (compared to the rate at which money is earned)

First off, this isn't a bad game; not by a long shot. When Guild Wars 2 was first announced, I was ecstatic. I was looking forward to even deeper build customization and even deeper PvP. The original Guild Wars did so well what many MMO's failed to do on a massive level; and that was create a balanced and completely skill based PvP community. However, on being introduced to the beta and playing for a few days now on the headstart I realized the build customization and PvP took a small step back.

Gone are the days of tinkering with 1,000's of different skill combinations, putting any skill in any slot. No matter if it was a boon, a shout, an adrenaline attack, spell, etc. Now you have dedicated skill slots with considerably fewer choices. You are given a weapon with a minimal amount of skills to use, in fact you don't even get to pick the skills for whatever weapon you are using; they are predetermined and unlocked within five minutes of killing a few devourers. This can be problematic to players looking to say, build a straight up tank when many of the skills and abilities you can choose from wouldn't benefit your desired build. Slot skills, or utility skills, are the biggest selection but for many classes, a good majority of them are either no used to do to just being useless or, just aren't powerful enough to say, take the spot of something that would just give a large damage increase.

Secondly, the PvP has been largely turned into a massive zerg fest; and it has been directly affected by the changes to the skill slotting system I mentioned. Now that you are forced to only take a certain amount of each type of skill it cuts down the amount of possibilities considerably, and also lowers the usefulness of some classes to a degree; if a class cannot, say, choose to grab a bunch of cc or something like that they might be passed up entirely in favor of someone who provides raw damage; instead of 50% damage and 50% soft cc.

Third and last, and definitely least, the map/ui needs a lot of work. It is hard to tell where one zone ends and another begins. Which can become problematic when trying to clear out a zone or search vistas, points of interest or anything else regarding map exploration. While the absence of traditional quests is a fresh change of pace but it also presents a very big problem. Many world events take way too much time to not be considered a waste of time. especially when you could walk twenty feet in the other direction and complete a heart assist; not too mention you're not even guaranteed to get a gold contribution level or decent loot on completely what can sometimes be a 30-45 min world event. For example in Diessa Plateau, you help some townsfolk fend off a giant who is attacking their town. I spent 30 min helping roughly 20 people kill this sucker; guess what? I got a bronze contribution level even though I'd be willing to bet I did probably 10% of the damage and revived people over 50 times.

All in all, for an MMO of this size to be running so smoothly (compared to other launches), I am highly impressed. NCSoft has released a game that is subscription fee free, but has the content of other premium MMOs, and then some. What usually breaks a game at launch (massive server load without proper planning) has been alleviated somewhat buy the overflow system. It can be highly annoying but at least it has made the game playable and enjoyable. Hopefully it's only temporary as this game has massive potential with everything that has been implemented. Long story short, NCSoft has crafted a fantastic game that might not succeed in being better than it's predecessor, but, it succeeds in being a rich and engaging MMO with rich combat and a great story.…Expand

Pros> The game is so damn beautiful it's astonishing. The voice acting and pacing are pretty nice, for sure. Probably the best WoW-like MMO that I've ever played in every single aspect.. But this game only excels when compared to WoW.. which is like comparing yourself to a chimpanzee with down syndrome.
Cons> Guild wars 2 does not even began to compare to Guild wars 1 when it comes toPros> The game is so damn beautiful it's astonishing. The voice acting and pacing are pretty nice, for sure. Probably the best WoW-like MMO that I've ever played in every single aspect.. But this game only excels when compared to WoW.. which is like comparing yourself to a chimpanzee with down syndrome.
Cons> Guild wars 2 does not even began to compare to Guild wars 1 when it comes to PVP. PVP was all I did, really. We had the previous capability customize all our skills and come up with unique combinations, and we had the ability to select 2 classes. We had structured PVP, 4v4, GVG, HA, Hero Arenas, Codex Arena, Kurzicks vs Luxons in capture point battles, fort aspenwood, and even 2 team colaberative missions. We had hundreds of hexes with unique effects, now reduced to causing some condition or another. All of that was lost. I mean, I really think the game is AMAZINGLY polished, but what made guild wars 1 so damn good, what brought all us fans to it, was that it was very unlike WoW.. and BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY THIS: In the ways that guild wars 2 is like WoW, it's better than WoW, but if it had been able to keep it's own unique strengths in the process instead of ditching them to be like WoW, we'd have really, actually, had the perfect game. :x I still have high hopes, however, as Arena net is nothing if not made up of brilliant members capable of correcting design mistakes.…Expand

I didn't give this game a perfect ten because it's in no way perfect. What is? I've seen lots of little bugs, lots of stuff that is dynamic, but not really that different from other MMOs. The "Go here, kill 10_ to progress" is still present, but it's done in an engaging way. The events around the world you can pick up on and take part in on the fly are extremely fun. There is someI didn't give this game a perfect ten because it's in no way perfect. What is? I've seen lots of little bugs, lots of stuff that is dynamic, but not really that different from other MMOs. The "Go here, kill 10_ to progress" is still present, but it's done in an engaging way. The events around the world you can pick up on and take part in on the fly are extremely fun. There is some "zerging" that happens in the more populated areas. (I just learned that term.) Honestly, more often than not your glad to have the help. The jumping puzzles are fun too. I will also be spending the next few days crafting. I'm...oddly attached to the gathering/crafting process. The 8 is a high mark from me for an MMO. I played World of Warcraft for 34 levels, (over maybe 3 months) on one character before I got bored altogether. I'm no expert on MMOs. I actually bought the game because a friend told me it would be a bit different. He was right. It's a bit different than what I'm used to. I really like it a lot. It's free to play so you really have nothing to lose. I highly recommend this game to anyone.…Expand

As excited as I was, disappointment soon set in. No tanks, no aggro, that is disappointing. But the most disappointing aspect of the game is the broken trading post whit is basically missing since pre-purchase. That is what MMO is all about. Overall, the game is not bad, but it is certainly missing a few things to make the game more exciting. Is it PvP factions, is it the characterAs excited as I was, disappointment soon set in. No tanks, no aggro, that is disappointing. But the most disappointing aspect of the game is the broken trading post whit is basically missing since pre-purchase. That is what MMO is all about. Overall, the game is not bad, but it is certainly missing a few things to make the game more exciting. Is it PvP factions, is it the character simplicity, is it missing true MMO soul? I don't know, as I progress, I hope to find something making the game more entertaining.…Expand

This is going to be my last attempt on trying to be serious on this game...since everytime I boot it up, it gets worse and worse everytime and I'm myself impressed by how bad this game gets the more I play. I have leveled over 50 and played a lot by exploring and doing all sort of quests, all sorts of actions, and again I tried the crafting after months of its release (since I bought it onThis is going to be my last attempt on trying to be serious on this game...since everytime I boot it up, it gets worse and worse everytime and I'm myself impressed by how bad this game gets the more I play. I have leveled over 50 and played a lot by exploring and doing all sort of quests, all sorts of actions, and again I tried the crafting after months of its release (since I bought it on launch). I initially said it was a great game due to the classes being well detailed, which ended up to be sort of a fake statement since all classes are basically "jack of all trades" class: you only get a different set of skills and while I appreciated the fact that they tried to remove the "holy trinity" (tank, dps, healer), this lack of feature makes every class basically a boredom due to the fact that you'll never feel unique: you're one of the crowd, and I don't see that point in a mmo where you'd wish to stand up among the crowd: it's that what makes an mmo worthwhile. I also mentioned how the game gives you different ways to quest. and events that are varied and different...but after a while you'll just discover that it's still the same quests just disguised as a "different" event, without mentioning that they can be boring too since you are, again, one of the crowd and I saw myself just spamming the same skills. About the skills, I initially mentioned that I liked it, but eventually I opened my eyes and I saw just how limited it was, since you'll just be spamming 5 skills in total, plus 5 more that can be set by yourself later on...but it is just not enough to keep the game fresh and I remember being bored just after few weeks of gameplay after release. Also the combat states that they hoped to be dynamic and always on the move, by giving you also the possibility to dodge and to fight while moving...and again you'll see just as a disguise for the same old routine; the dodge works sporadically and unless you're EXTREMELY precise, you can still be hit and make your dodge completely useless. Also, you have only 2 dodges, and once you're over you can easily stand still: even if you run their hit range is bigger than yours, and unfortunely this leads into some very overpowered enemies that can take basically 1/10 of your health in one hit (worst example: as a warrior, I received a critical hit of 990 from a NON-veteran/elite enemy...and I was level 11-12, and had only 890+ hp). It is engaging at times...and at first, but then you'll see the truth in a second: it's not fun and it is repetitive. I also mentioned how the shared resources is good...and is still good! But on the other hand the crafting system, while a little improved by lowering some items (I "think"...) it still remains hard to improve and I honestly never tried to improve it due to the fact that it requires so much material grinding that it would turn off any will of trying. And while some may say "get a guild" or "use a guide" to me, I say instead if I'm forced to ask for help, what's to enjoy about the professions?". The graphics are still great and I haven't got much to say: it still remains the best graphics I've seen so far. Although, the dubbing can be mediocre at times. The story, while I liked that you could create a story for your avatar, it's the same as the rest of the game: it's just a disguise that after some quests completely disappears and reveals nothing more than a simple questline with choices to make (which changes only few things by the way). While interesting, AGAIN, the freshness disappears rapidly and becomes a boring campaign that shows nothing more, and nothing less. I also mentioned that while there are 5 races, this is the game where I basically played one, since most of the races are...ugly. This is still personal and while I enjoy that they added more races than the first game, to me the human is still the only good race to play with (or the charr: they're awesome!). And for last, the community. I play in one of the most crowded server (Aurora Glade) and everytime I play...I hardly see anybody around! What happened? Even when I started a new character the places had barely few people around: I was playing alone all the time! Nobody even talked in the general chat (except cities) and while I'm not at cap level yet I've seen more players in the starting zones in many other MMORPGs, and this game supposed to encourage team work! That alone is why I quit, and why everyone should be aware of this game: I wouldn't bother if it wasn't of it's welcoming appearence but it soon shows how fake all the premise was and how basically it has nothing fresh into it. Not the worst MMORPG, but it's very close to it. You have been warned.…Expand

Being a fan of the original Guild Wars I decided to buy the second one. I was very pleased, the gameplay is smooth, has a lot of customization and the story (in my experience) was entertaining. Also the graphical quality is very nice for an MMO. The game was however streamlined to be more like other MMO's which might turn off a few of the original Guild Wars fans. However it is wellBeing a fan of the original Guild Wars I decided to buy the second one. I was very pleased, the gameplay is smooth, has a lot of customization and the story (in my experience) was entertaining. Also the graphical quality is very nice for an MMO. The game was however streamlined to be more like other MMO's which might turn off a few of the original Guild Wars fans. However it is well executed and well done.…Expand

GW2 starts off very strong in the first 20 levels but most players quickly realize how poor the quest(dynamic event/heart) variety is. I can't even count how many times I had to defend a camp from X waves of enemies, or collect objects on the ground for an NPC. Entering a new zone doesn't feel new at all. Dynamic events become trivial when the players make a zerg, and most are impossibleGW2 starts off very strong in the first 20 levels but most players quickly realize how poor the quest(dynamic event/heart) variety is. I can't even count how many times I had to defend a camp from X waves of enemies, or collect objects on the ground for an NPC. Entering a new zone doesn't feel new at all. Dynamic events become trivial when the players make a zerg, and most are impossible when solo/duo.

The game makes it difficult and not fun to group with friends. If you get 20 meters away from someone in your group, they disappear both on the screen and on the map. Doing hearts pretty much forces group members to solo, and ignoring hearts doesn't feel right as you are skipping a lot of content.

The PvE endgame is mediocre at best. The level 80 zone requires absolutely no skill, only a big enough zerg, time and patience.

PvP combat is plagued by poor class balance and unnecessary new features like the downed state, which creates frustration whether you kill or die. sPvP is completely cut off from the rest of the game, and its progression is only cosmetic, which only a small minority of players will find interesting.

WvW has poor performance on most computers (for example my PC gets 60+ fps in PvE but only 15 in large battles in WvW), lacks any progression which will turn off most PvPers, and only allows one and only one playstyle if you want to be effective: Zerging. Arena.net tried to imitate DAoC's brilliant RvR, but they decided not to copy important features like realm ranks/realm points, long duration crowd control and 8-man groups (to allow more playstyles like group vs group, small group, soloing) and a huge PvP dungeon like the amazing Darkness Falls.

The positives are that the game is buy to play and doesn't require a subscription, and that the developers seem to have ambition, which gives me hope that the game might improve over the next years.…Expand

NOTE: Take reviews both bad and good with a pinch of salt for they are only opinions and not gospel. Fanboys and Haters would have scored the game 0 or 10 before it was even released. By all means read, but check out vid's as well and make an informed decision.

MY OPINION: Another fantasy MMORPG *sighs* , So much hype, so much potential wasted. One thing this game isn't and that is aNOTE: Take reviews both bad and good with a pinch of salt for they are only opinions and not gospel. Fanboys and Haters would have scored the game 0 or 10 before it was even released. By all means read, but check out vid's as well and make an informed decision.

MY OPINION: Another fantasy MMORPG *sighs* , So much hype, so much potential wasted. One thing this game isn't and that is a revolution of the MMO genre. It's more of and evolution making the game more accessible for the casual market. It does nothing new just adds it's only twist to systems seen before and sometimes better in other games. But that evolution comes at a price, the game has a very Xbox feel, offering little challenge. GRAPHICS: Are good, a bit to cartoony for my taste but they do the job but are not groundbreaking in anyway. PVE: GW1 was a mainly PvP game and it shows, GW2's PvE is the standard mix of kill x quests and Dynamic Events set on a repeat cycle , quickly becoming boring and degenerating into a zerg train.
PVP: So much potential with the WvW but not fully realised yet by Anet, when the player strategies come to the for it wil be much better but at the moment is just another zerg. The long queues are to be expected but adding PvE elements to the maps has only added to the problem. To many slots are filled by those just doing the said PvE and not PvP .
COMBAT: Is very limited and brings nothing new to the standard key sequence button mash of other games. Hit 1, Hit 1 again, Hit 2 then Hit 1 again . Same old same old system thats seen before. Active dodge and LoS mechanics add a small tactical element but don't save it from being mundane
GENERAL: Badly voiced and scripted NPC's that drifts from mediorce > to cheesey > to downright bad.
Certain bugs and Missing features such as the Trading house are to be expected for a new launch and will be addressed in due time and do not effect my score.
SUMMARY: GW2 is marmite, it will be loved or loathed based on your own personal taste, but any potential buyer should inform themselves fully before a purchase and do not just follow the hype generated by the fans…Expand

Is it a good game? Well, it's not a bad one... however you should know that the hype has painted an unrealistic picture of how good the game really is. On the surface its a solid, well crafted game with few technical flaws and a good eye for details that shines through in things like the crafting. It's certainly among the better MMO's to have been released in recent years. But... at theIs it a good game? Well, it's not a bad one... however you should know that the hype has painted an unrealistic picture of how good the game really is. On the surface its a solid, well crafted game with few technical flaws and a good eye for details that shines through in things like the crafting. It's certainly among the better MMO's to have been released in recent years. But... at the end of the day it's really not much more fun than it's fantasy MMO contemporaries. At least where PvE is concerned.

Sure it mixes things up somewhat, and the dynamic events that temporarily changes the "lay of the land" are interesting. However it is still very much like the questing in all the other MMO's you have played. Same old, different wrapping. Grind X or collect Y, often longer and with less variety than other games due to the open nature of the events. I guess my main gripe is that GW2 is almost to streamlined, most of the time there is little challenge to be had, all while moving at a really fast pace. And that may be one reason why I found it difficult to get attached to several aspects of the game. While the graphical design is good and certainly doesn't bother me, it does however look dated in places if that should be a concern.

Many will find pleasure in GW2, but I'm afraid I'm not one of them. GW2 simply doesn't bring anything profound to the table. So if like me, you are tired of the same old easy cookie cutter fantasy MMO's, chances are your time in Tyria would be short lived as well.

I'm quite unsure with my feelings on Guildwars 2. First of graphically it's not a terrible game, how ever it feels a bit dated in terms of it. Textures for anything other than armour and weapons is rather "meh" nothing special about them, they all appear somewhat blurry and lacking in detail. Water reflections are beautiful as well as shadows, but the water does lack allot of tessellation.I'm quite unsure with my feelings on Guildwars 2. First of graphically it's not a terrible game, how ever it feels a bit dated in terms of it. Textures for anything other than armour and weapons is rather "meh" nothing special about them, they all appear somewhat blurry and lacking in detail. Water reflections are beautiful as well as shadows, but the water does lack allot of tessellation. Its just seems to be an animated texture. They need more options for those with higher end systems, I understand this is an MMO and they target a broad market of people and systems, but it's quite disappointing to have system that could do so much more.

In terms of gameplay, it feels lackluster. Yes it's a completely new system to Guildwars 1, but I feel the new improvements have no place. Even though you can roll to try get away from opponents, it does nothing they still with out fail deal damage to you. So the rolling system is just pointless to have. When It comes to questing its all the things we are familiar to. They do throw in a few quests where you get to control a giant cannon etc etc they still feeling kinda boring.

The way point and point of interests are just repetitive and will drain hours of time trying to reach all of them in areas. You will find the majority of the game is just doing these anyway, they "Help quests" (The gold heart ones) Are pretty much all the same "Clear an area of X monster and fix X or collect X"

PVP is a large chunk of the game (as was Guildwars 1) But Guildwars 2 pvp is pretty much the same as Guildwars 2 except Guildwars 2 introduces the concept of World vs World. Which is quite addictive, but the large amount of players on causes a fair amount of lag. If you loved PVP in the first you will love it in the second.

I personally am not attached to the game as I was with the first. The first Guildwars I could play for 6 hours+ straight easily. Everything I did had a charm to it, which made the game more enjoyable. I fail to have this connection with Guildwars 2, It's NOT a bad game by all means. I'm sure there are plenty who will love it. I just believe it lacks something to it, I can't play for more than 2 hours with being bored or over it, everything I do seems all the same and quite bland.

How ever this is all JUST my opinion. Which I am sharing to you all.…Expand

Ah, Guild Wars 2. How the Internet have been waiting for you so long. What are they greeted with? A polished wow-clone. Channeling spells, lag, outdated graphics for it's time and an insane amount of bribes going to the critiques to cough out "Unique combat system" quotes whenever possible. As much as I like one-time fees, like with single-player games, it will only do harm to MMORPG'sAh, Guild Wars 2. How the Internet have been waiting for you so long. What are they greeted with? A polished wow-clone. Channeling spells, lag, outdated graphics for it's time and an insane amount of bribes going to the critiques to cough out "Unique combat system" quotes whenever possible. As much as I like one-time fees, like with single-player games, it will only do harm to MMORPG's because they will need a steady stream of income to offer a continuous service. Otherwise, bankruptcy or P2W is inevitable. This fate can already be hinted towards on how they locked out the ability to purchase the game, being too cheap to have an adequate amount of availability on the servers while banning more users than Origin, clever NCsoft. In It's core, the game isn't by any means bad but it's just very, very, very average.…Expand

Im sorry, i really reallt tried to like this game, but i just cant bring myself around to like this "revolutionary" mmo. The combat is stale at its best, the term "Dynamic combat" may be something cool for a WoW player, but if you have played a game with a true dynamic combat system (TERA) you will find the fighting in GW2 just as autonomous as in for exampe Warhammer online.

SpeakingIm sorry, i really reallt tried to like this game, but i just cant bring myself around to like this "revolutionary" mmo. The combat is stale at its best, the term "Dynamic combat" may be something cool for a WoW player, but if you have played a game with a true dynamic combat system (TERA) you will find the fighting in GW2 just as autonomous as in for exampe Warhammer online.

Speaking of Warhammer online, this game has to be compared to that game, leave out games like WoW. GW2 has taken alot of the things from the Warhammer game and tried to make it better, the result is a lukewarm mix where nothing really feels thought thru. The exploration part is uninspired and offers little to the game, im Warhammer Online, you were also encouraged to explore and more then often you were rewarded with some unique cloack, title or decoration for your armor. In GW2 all i get is a xp boost and a camerashot of something the devs are perticulary proud of. Shure, you get a chest when you complete all the different Heart quests, points of interest and vistas in an area, but the journey to that reward is long and tedious. Another feature lifted from the Warhammer game is these "Dynamic events". You get to an area where an event is happening, you participate in this event and get a reward upon completion. On some events there are maybe two three stages, with new rewards for each stage completed. Warhammer did this to, but had a problem with scaling depending on the amount of ppl there. Most of the time you would get nowhere since the event dident scale down and the world was fairly empty. GW2 sees to fix this issue and does it pretty good, most events are managable no matter how many are participating, but the reward system is a joke. I once came to an event, shot one spell towards one mob and got a Gold Medal for my role in the event. One time six out of eight cubs i was set to protect died, still got a gold medal. In Warhammer, the event would count the acctual amount of work i did (dmg, tanking, healing, mobs killed) and add that amount to a random dice roll, the higher the score the better the loot. This was a system that encouraged people to do their role and do it well for the phattest loot. In GW2 i can just afk thru the whole event and still get a great reward.

The mentioned combat is very chaotic. In events with more then five people attending im having a heard time figuring out who does what, what spells are hostile towards me and what my character actually is doing. This is part to this "role-less class system" where there are no clear "Tank" or "Healer", everyone can do everything and they all do it equally bad. Insead of having clear class-roles that you need to protect (help the tank, heal the tank, make shure healer is not getting killed) the GW2 approach seems to be to "zerg" everything. Shure, it looks pretty awesome when 20+ people cather at one spot to do an event, but in the end it feels like none of us have a real identity. I cast some spells, i gave some buffs and debuffs, but so did everyone else. Playing GW2 feels to me like beeing an ant. Im a small insignificant person with generic abilities and skills. Im in a huge world with tons of stuff to see but when i do get to that ellusive mountain top, all i get is a nice view and then have to face the long walk back down again. The world keeps on going without me, events will keep on happening and quests will be solved. I dont feel like a hero, i feel like me, an ant in a big world that manages to go on just fine without me, and thats not what i want.…Collapse

Game is fantastic, support is an unholy abomination. On top of taking days to get a response, all bans are treated the same as the system and accuse you of wrongdoing. If say someone from china tries to access your account, you immediately boot them off and change your password. A few hours later they'll helpfully ban you and a message accusing you of "unacceptable behavior" pops upGame is fantastic, support is an unholy abomination. On top of taking days to get a response, all bans are treated the same as the system and accuse you of wrongdoing. If say someone from china tries to access your account, you immediately boot them off and change your password. A few hours later they'll helpfully ban you and a message accusing you of "unacceptable behavior" pops up when you log in, but they won't even email you to let you know the real reason so you need to wait a day to get an automated response and it's probably going to be a few more days to get it fixed. Additionally you can't party up with your friends because the overflow system is broken. Gameplay is enjoyable however, and very beautiful scenery.…Expand

Fisrt, i am no fanboy and no hater, i am here to give my honest opinion, hope to help you design if this is your game or not.

gameplay~ i was told by a friend this is an action based mmo, but it is not. it is another wow kind of point and clikcer. you hold your left mouse button to perform autoattack. the action feels very limited when i am spoiled by true action mmo like DCUO and Tera,Fisrt, i am no fanboy and no hater, i am here to give my honest opinion, hope to help you design if this is your game or not.

gameplay~ i was told by a friend this is an action based mmo, but it is not. it is another wow kind of point and clikcer. you hold your left mouse button to perform autoattack. the action feels very limited when i am spoiled by true action mmo like DCUO and Tera, it makes me feel going back in time, playing wow holding my right mouse button to get a better angle,so i can stand there and hold tight to my left mouse button. plus, i cant even lock my camera to make the game feels better.
QUESTING~ questing is a big plus for me, it is not like other mmo that u pick up a quest from npc then returning. they have pop up live event, so suddenly everyone on the map goes to the area and do quest togethor, which is interesting as i remember when i was playing other mmo i always feel like a lone wolf when my friend is not online questing by myself.
pvp~ still didnt get to that part but i seriously doubt it when i dont like the combat system at all.
graphic ~ not the best but surely live upto todays standard. and detail of the world is very rich, which creates an enjoyable enviorment. sound ~ wonderful
charactor customization~ very very limited for mmo released in 2012
other thoughts, this game is hyped up too much and i just make another other mistake buying a game before doing enough research. and my friend has never played either dcuo or tera so he doesnt know what action mmo means. i wont play alot of it until they improve the gameply. one more thing, this game has the worst community i have ever seen. i was just asking in the map chat that if there is a way i can lock my camera. response are " omg another console gamer" " go back to your xbox" "the camera is design for having better position yourselve, u should play that way...... i am like wtf...... i was expect answer like "yes you can, go to...... or "no you can not" , but hue hue .. guess too many fanboy in game u shouldnt even ask question…Expand

So when I started the game, I was impressed by the voice acting and the polish of the graphics. I was also impressed with the amount of character classes i could choose between. I was also impressed with the idea of being able to customize my character's story line by choices made before the game began. Once the first 5 hours of game play was completed I was then let down by a tediousSo when I started the game, I was impressed by the voice acting and the polish of the graphics. I was also impressed with the amount of character classes i could choose between. I was also impressed with the idea of being able to customize my character's story line by choices made before the game began. Once the first 5 hours of game play was completed I was then let down by a tedious quest sytem, repetitive random events and ptiful PVP system. Im just going to get this out of the way right away, I come from the old school of everquest, Asheron's call, Ultima online ect... and am really only interested in pvp but i can apreciate a deep story driven PVE system like The Old Republic Online. In the old days you had an active choice to make at the beginning. Do I join a PVP server or a PVE server, This game gives you no option witch worried me right away. As I am going through playing multiple classes and multiple levels feeling real lonely because the quest system does not encourage teaming up, instead if you happen to be in the same area as another player,guess what, you are a team, and once the event is over you all disperse, never exchanging names or talking at all because well, what the point? Ok so I kept on going, deciding to join the pvp system at lvl 20 just so I knew what I was doing with the character before I joined. I expected a dynamic PVP experience. Instead all i got was a chaotic combat system and yet another linear experience. Go here to defend this, Run here to defend that, with no clear and defined rolls to play in the battle.The PVP was just like the rest of the game, Linear and lonely. Overall i cannot give the game the lowest score because it has pretty looking skills and spells with clean graphics that cover up a hollow role playing experience. in short, good graphics, linear and repetitive PVE experience, and pathetic and totaly seperate from the game PVP sytem. Not exactly what i was expecting, but when its free to play, how good can it be? as a side note, what the hell happened to open world PVP servers where anything goes? I miss those days.…Expand

I haven't gamed much over the past decade, so I'm not "tired" of WoW-type style games like others might be. I started playing SWTOR earlier this year, and fell in love with much of it.. but with so many people checking out GW2 (and also a lot of questions about TOR's future), I decided to try it as well. But... it's just not working for me. I don't understand those who insist GW2'sI haven't gamed much over the past decade, so I'm not "tired" of WoW-type style games like others might be. I started playing SWTOR earlier this year, and fell in love with much of it.. but with so many people checking out GW2 (and also a lot of questions about TOR's future), I decided to try it as well. But... it's just not working for me. I don't understand those who insist GW2's graphics are superior to TOR. I heartily disagree. Looking at the animations of my toon, looking at how he + other players appear.. to my eyes, it's just decades apart.. with what I see in GW2, it's literally something I might have seen 10+ years ago. The scenary on GW2 is certainly well done if you go for that artistic style, but not good enough that I really care about "vistas".

I'm also just not that impressed with the gameplay. Someone compared to the SW:TOR style of combat to "playing a piano" (in a dismissive/critical sense). Well, I actually liked that... a lot. I have 2 quick bars = 24 keys I use in literally every single warzone on TOR. I'm constantly watching CDs + my opponents cast bar, working with LOS, and rotating through actions as appropriate. In contrast, I think the 5 + a few buttons in GW2 makes combat extremely boring. I auto-attack, occasionally evade, and hit whatever is off CD. I really found it extremely boring to play, and quit after about an hour. (Maybe console players used to smashing 1-2 keys will find it just fine?)

I love GW2's WvWvW layout though. If there was a way to combine that with the SW:TOR's combat interface, I would be in heaven.…Expand

Try this game before you buy it! Borrow a friends account or wait for a free trial or something, but don't spend money on it until you actually know what you're buying into. There's not much more I can say that the other negative reviewers haven't already covered. But this game is simply not worth $60 ($20 maybe). Don't fall for the hype!

We'll start with the dated graphics. once again an MMO designer makes a game to run in the lowest systems making a mediocre graphics experience for everyone. Then we continue with the character controls. Floaty and disconnected. You start an attack and your character takes over - you don't have real control over it.. Just like a dog you tell "attack" and "stop" and lead by a leash.We'll start with the dated graphics. once again an MMO designer makes a game to run in the lowest systems making a mediocre graphics experience for everyone. Then we continue with the character controls. Floaty and disconnected. You start an attack and your character takes over - you don't have real control over it.. Just like a dog you tell "attack" and "stop" and lead by a leash. Auto-attacks and tab target, once more. Not even SWTOR relied on auto-attacks and they criticized its combat as WoW clone. This is far more clonish to WoW than anything else I've played in the genre. In fact, Ranger plays the exact same as Hunter. Their in game Cash Store is ever present like any F2P title, hounding you to conveniently purchase with cash things that will take you more work to get online. People already simply purchase advantages in PvP and save themselves the time. Finally its players are very much like a cult - they'll hound anyone not sharing a perfect opinion of GW like a pariah. Death threats have been lobbed on personal emails, that's how fanatical they get. Between the mediocre gameplay, dated graphics, and mindless- aggressive cult core of players it's something to stay away from.…Expand

Ah, I just wrote a five thousand character review. I reached the limit, and prepared to backspace a few times, then a few seconds later everything I wrote was gone. I don't think I'll be writing another review on this site. Nonetheless, an extremely brief summary of what I wrote:
-Reasonably good graphics, though that's not really important
-Arenanet lied to their fans and a lot of theAh, I just wrote a five thousand character review. I reached the limit, and prepared to backspace a few times, then a few seconds later everything I wrote was gone. I don't think I'll be writing another review on this site. Nonetheless, an extremely brief summary of what I wrote:
-Reasonably good graphics, though that's not really important
-Arenanet lied to their fans and a lot of the stuff promised in the promotional content isn't true the 'dynamically changing world' is utter claptrap (all it comes down to is you being unable to teleport to certain waypoints at times and a bunch of monsters roaming around those areas, wahey) and the game was going to lack a gear treadmill 'fixed' in the Southsun Cove patch (another promise broken)
-Abilities are not enjoyable, and you're far more limited than you think one ability is just an autoattack, elite skills are next to useless, so you're practically limited to eight abilities (with one being a mere generic heal). You'll find your preferences quickly and probably never change out again, meaning you're using the same eight abilities with very little strategy no complexity equates to no enjoyability or actual 'gameplay'
-Events are quite literally nothing more than 'Zerg rushes'. This is an undeniable fact; the more people involved, the better spam your eight abilities and hope for victory. If repeating this over and over sounds fun to you, Guild Wars 2 has you covered
-The game DOES have some positive points, such as four unique races not seen in any other fantasies that have some genuine lore and personality behind them; something I'm sure any fantasy fan would appreciate who's tired of the typical 'orcs and humans' format (or just humans in the case of some fiction)
-The personal story is a joke. The first half; you'll feel like you're experiencing the outcome of those background choices you made and truly enjoying your own 'personal story'. Around half way through, you encounter a sylvari called Trahearne, and without spoiling anything (though why you'd care about spoilers for the plot devoid of quite literally... er, everything, emotion, intrigue, drama etc), the story is now about Trahearne, not you. You are his mere accomplice and sidekick; enjoy taking a back seat for the rest of what was meant to be your 'personal story did I mention Trahearne is a character without any distinguishable personality and likeability and is something most people would consider a 'Mary Sue'? That's the guy who's taking over, folks!
-Arenanet has committed to some particularly scandalous behaviour. There have been several controversies over so-called 'exploits' that were merely poor programming on the behalf of Arenanet. The most well known of which was the case where over four thousand accounts were banned within the first month for simply purchasing items that Arenanet had mistakenly given a low price no other company to my knowledge would take such a brash action; certainly not the exemplary Blizzard of which almost all MMORPGs are compared to the infamous WoW. However, evading comparing the two, Arenanet made some ridiculous decisions that simply boggle the mind and suggest inexperience on their behalf they damaged their reputation while banning players who could potentially purchase from the real money store in the future, rather than fixing a simple error that was undeniably THEIR FAULT you should never be punished for taking advantage of an opportunity; especially when it's extremely vague that it's an 'exploit' anyhow

Overall, would I suggest you buy Guild Wars 2? Actually, yes. Because despite all these immense drawbacks, it's still an undeniably fun game. However, with its many flaws, I have to give an extremely mixed review as it feels like the game is outright broken in some regards while spectacular in other ways. As of current, I believe any future content will only improve the game although that could just me being optimistic. Good luck, Arenanet.…Expand

So at release I would have given that game a 8/10 - 9/10, but today I can give it no more than 4/10.

Why is that, you may ask?
On one hand several bugs are still in the game after 2 years. But thats not the problem.
The Problem is the content.
PVE:
As for normal dungeons there is ONE new path in one dungeon and fractals.
Fractals have been added as a vicious grind circleSo at release I would have given that game a 8/10 - 9/10, but today I can give it no more than 4/10.

Why is that, you may ask?

On one hand several bugs are still in the game after 2 years. But thats not the problem.

The Problem is the content.

PVE:

As for normal dungeons there is ONE new path in one dungeon and fractals.
Fractals have been added as a vicious grind circle were you repeat the same instances over and over again on different difficultiy levels in order to get items to play the same instance on a higher "difficulty" level.
The other thing you can do in endgame is either casually strolling around or farming for your "endgame gear", because the old ingame gear was pretty easy to get (what they promised), they added a new time-gated money grind tier of gear in order to keep ppl playing.
But that new tier doesnt have to do anything with skill or archieving something, it is just a time-gated money grind. Money grind cause you cant even farm specific items, so you have to farm money in order to buy what you need.
Overall the game is driving into the direction of a very repetitve asia grinder (especially since china release)
Since the last feature patch now a big button is placed inside the tradingpost (the gw2 form of an auction house) it states "Need some Gold?", and is a concrete statement:
"You want ingame money?
Buy it from us!"

The last Feature Patch even ruined the part of the game that distinguished it from every other one in the best way: The leveling. Now its time-gated and annoying as well.

PVP:
Has many issues, balance, 4vs5 match-ups just to name a few.

2 Maps have been added one removed (cause they couldnt balance it).
One of the added maps is even more unbalanced than the one that got removed and is thus being hated by a majority of the forum community (Id say 70-80%).
Hated that much that some ppl even willingly go AFK in rated queues, accepting defeat, just in order not to play on it. (leaderboards are not trustworthy anyway, thats quite another topic)

Anets response on this is silence, okay when one of the "top players" asked them about it on their overhyped tournament of legends(which's final was watched live by only 1500 ppl)
they stated that forum community wouldnt at all represent player community, which might be true, but I ask myself how they know that if they didnt make a ingame poll about it.

Due to the lack of love for PvP , PvP has become pretty much dead, even though a lot of ppl got attracted to it first, especially because of the greatness of GW1 in that regard.

My advice , if you want a good game , buy Guild Wars 1 (all 4 parts), you cant jump there but in almost every other aspect it is superior.…Expand

Guild Wars 2 is an MMO that is not for the average MMO players. If you like grinding mobs, you will be disappointed. If you like grinding quest, you will be disappointed. If you like grinding for god like equipment, you will be disappointed. If you like more endgame grinding to feel like God, boy are you going to be disappointed. In short, if you are looking for old school MMO qualities,Guild Wars 2 is an MMO that is not for the average MMO players. If you like grinding mobs, you will be disappointed. If you like grinding quest, you will be disappointed. If you like grinding for god like equipment, you will be disappointed. If you like more endgame grinding to feel like God, boy are you going to be disappointed. In short, if you are looking for old school MMO qualities, this is -NOT- the game for you. If you are not, welcome to the future.

Guild Wars 2 is the ONLY MMO that allows me to level in multiple ways. To get my exotic equipment in multiple ways. To complete "achievement/task" in multiple ways.

In old school MMO, everyone and every character level up the same way, either grinding quest or grinding mobs. In Guild Wars 2, there are many ways to get yourself to level 80 because everything you do reward you with EXP proportional to your level. You can craft your way to level 80. You can travel the world and explore your way to level 80. You can grind dungeons to level 80. You can join WvW and fight (pvp) your way to level 80. Of course, the gods of grind can even grind themselves to level 80 (I do not recommend this though).

Gears are no different. You can get them from multiple sources. You do not have to rot in certain dungeons to get IMBA gears only to be obsolete come next update. Top tier equipment are equal in power and they can be obtained from multiple sources. If you want to look good (like me), then you will have to play harder to earn the "best" looking skins. (Beauty is in the eye of the beholder)

The art-style in this game is "beautiful" and simply brilliant. Instead of trying to be too realistic or too flamboyant, the entire game looks like a painting, with brush strokes even. This gives the game a unique and lasting visual appeal. I believe it will age very well.

I feel that ArenaNet is sincere in trying to make a revolutionary game and they are financially very generous. You buy the game once and you can enjoy living update every 2 weeks a month for as long as Guild Wars 2 is running. They deserve no less than a 10.

p/s: If you do join us in Guild Wars 2 and find yourself in a rather empty zone, it may not mean that the game has not enough players as some would claim. Unlike -OLD- MMO games, players in Guild Wars 2 do not need to cluster in some quest hub or leveling zone doing the same thing to level. Players are more spread out but you can still find enough of them around world boss spawn points.…Expand

Absolutely excellent MMO. Great graphics, excellent story lines, variety of classes that are fun to play, constant influx of content, best events in the industry. PvP stands out with both completion based combat, and world conquest. No subscription fee, and micro transactions cannot effect competitive PVP.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
Better than TOR, The Secret World, and TERA, all things considered.
I've been purchasing every major MMO release this year and have left extremely disappointed each time. I would log in, see "kill X and Y", do the standard number mashing combat that you find in every MMO, and end up unsubscribing. I did try to give these games my all and see if I could break past the tedium, but I could not.…Expand

This is a game a really wanted to like and I did give it a good six months. It has beautiful character models, an fun combat system, a non-gear based pvp system, and dynamic content (DC). The latter, DC, is what really got my attention, and is, in fact, what the publisher hyped about the game.

Other things are interesting too, from the little (account wide banks and currency) to theThis is a game a really wanted to like and I did give it a good six months. It has beautiful character models, an fun combat system, a non-gear based pvp system, and dynamic content (DC). The latter, DC, is what really got my attention, and is, in fact, what the publisher hyped about the game.

Other things are interesting too, from the little (account wide banks and currency) to the big, especially the hub-free questing.

Yet, somehow, for me, the whole is much less than the sum of its parts. I did enjoy maxing out a few characters and exploring the world. But after all, it just seemed a bit stale. The DC is quite weak in the end, much less interesting to me than RIFT's DC. The questing gets tedious and, quest-granting method aside, is still the same old kill-this/fetch that.

Maybe they fixed this in the last few months but when I left, many folks were doing a very dull zone boss spawn loop in the starting zones collecting goodies. It was quick, it was efficient, and it was terribly boring. It's also a travesty of dynamic content: yes you had to wait for a boss to spawn but they spawned in the exact same order. No variation in timing or bosses.

Pre-launch they promised that your actions would affect the world. If those in zone don't stop the bandits poisoning the water supply, it remains poisoned. Trouble is, while sometimes it does get poisoned, it doesn't really have any effect and more typically, if an event fails, you just immediately go to the next "fix it" step in the chain, essentially getting a slightly longer version of the quest.

PVP was fun for a while and I think the cosmetic gear only rewards is interesting but A) why couldn't I wear this gear as town-wear so I could show it off outside of PVP and B) after level 30 or so, there was 50 or more levels of grind before there was any more gear I was interested in.

In the end, I just got bored with it. I do sometimes pine for those gorgeous character models and sexy gear but when I pop on again after the publisher sends me their latest hook, I feel the same distaste for the game that I felt for WoW after playing it for three years solid. I just can't face the tedium. There's too little to hold my attention.

Most of the gamers I know are the same way- fun for a while but easy to move on to something else. So if you can get it cheap, I think you can expect a few months of play out of it but don't be surprised if it does not hold your long term interest.…Expand

First of, this game has an amazing potential with it's innovative action-based combat system and awesome PvE. From the moment you create your character you get to know the main mechanics of the game and of your class. The classes give you big variety and a lot to choose from.
From level 1 to 80 the game is amazing, lots of exploration, a nice way of telling you the plot and making yourFirst of, this game has an amazing potential with it's innovative action-based combat system and awesome PvE. From the moment you create your character you get to know the main mechanics of the game and of your class. The classes give you big variety and a lot to choose from.
From level 1 to 80 the game is amazing, lots of exploration, a nice way of telling you the plot and making your character progress through that plot. The exp rate is high making it a smooth expirience and not focusing a lot on repetitive grinding quests. The new dynamic events are pretty good however could be better. You can easily reach lvl cap (80) in about a month and from that moment on the game just goes downhill.
After you hit lvl cap the game turns into a gigantic grind fest, with everything in the game consisting of mindlessly zerging around certain zones and that's it. The PvE after reaching lvl 80 is all that, there is no character progression everything you do is grind grind and grind for a hope of better skins, you have no objectives nor rewards for doing better or poorly at certain situations. There are a few dungeons (about 5) in the entire game, which are pretty decent but that get pretty repetitive and boring after a while with no enemy mechanics other than: "Dodge or Die/Get Knocked Back into a Hole".
The game population has been decreasing a LOT with the bad decisions and back feedback of the devs that seem to let everyone confused. Dubious the development paths being taken day after day, the developers seem to ignore most of the requests on the forums and just do their own thing.
The PVP and WvW is a mess (even tho it's still probably the best PvP MMORPG game), with certain classes just being dominant in every aspect and other classes just being completly irrelevant since day 1 of this game.
The lack of patches to focus on balancing classes just lead to classes such as Warrior being dominant both in PvE and PvP with no one to ever representing any kind of challenge to them and other classes (eg Ranger) being so weak that it doesn't justify having any of them in any part of the game.
The lack of holy trinity (Healer, Tank, DPSer) instead of leading to everyone feel useful just leads to everyone feeling useless and easily replacable and just leads to not justifying any build other than full-DPS.
Overall the game represents no challenge at any point, badly balanced (leading to a bad WvW / sPvP expirience), with little to no-content being added and dubious development paths being taken over and over again.
If you are looking for maybe a month or so of content, go ahead, otherwise you will be very quickly hit in the face by boring and monotonous events.…Expand

I have a little over 1000 hours into GW2 and I really enjoy it.
The only real complaint I have is with the devs.
The game just isn't growing the way it really should.
They've added 2, maybe 3, new PvE areas and a new World vs World vs World area since release.
They've added a lot of cosmetic items and items to craft, but I wouldn't call that something that all players could enjoy.I have a little over 1000 hours into GW2 and I really enjoy it.
The only real complaint I have is with the devs.
The game just isn't growing the way it really should.
They've added 2, maybe 3, new PvE areas and a new World vs World vs World area since release.
They've added a lot of cosmetic items and items to craft, but I wouldn't call that something that all players could enjoy.
Wheres the new dungeons, the new classes, the new PvP maps??
The combat for PvP is great, its mostly based on your timing so its fairly rewarding and doesn't stale too easily...Except you play the same handful of maps.
PvE combat isn't too good, the first few hundred hours are exciting, but then the flare goes away and it becomes a bit boring. You run dungeons for gold, but there is little to no challenge anymore. Open world content is equally easy. There are ways to challenge yourself, like soloing a dungeon , but its not really supported. No achievements from it, no loot bonus, much slower than a full group which is easy to find.

Given the cost, I would encourage everyone to atleast try GW2. The cheaper heroic version is good enough. the extra $20 for the deluxe edition has very little impact on your gameplay.…Expand

positives:
1) good graphics
2) fluid combat.
3) events are fun
4) plenty of end game content
5) up front cost then f2p...and f2p to the extent that all the people who poor massive amounts of money into the game don't have a massive advantage over those that don't.
6) free update content. i don't have to pay for myOverall one of the more solid MMO's i have played.

positives:

1) good graphics

2) fluid combat.

3) events are fun

4) plenty of end game content

5) up front cost then f2p...and f2p to the extent that all the people who poor massive amounts of money into the game don't have a massive advantage over those that don't.

6) free update content. i don't have to pay for my expansions they are just provided (though the expansions should not be compared to WoW).

negatives:

1) it is an MMO and it doesn't shy away from grinding, but in ways this is inherent to all MMO's

2) the story is blah. though i should say the personal story/main story in blah. the living/seasons story is much better though still not extraordinary, i have to remind myself though that this is an MMO.…Expand

I'm a 2+ year veteran of this game and have been playing since launch. I have 3000+ hours logged on all my characters combined. This is hands down the best MMO out there. The graphics are fantastic. The character models and animations are amazing. The combat is the best combat out of any MMO that I've ever played, and I've never had as much fun leveling a character in other games as I haveI'm a 2+ year veteran of this game and have been playing since launch. I have 3000+ hours logged on all my characters combined. This is hands down the best MMO out there. The graphics are fantastic. The character models and animations are amazing. The combat is the best combat out of any MMO that I've ever played, and I've never had as much fun leveling a character in other games as I have in this one

On the other hand, the game hasn't changed much since launch. The developers are SLOW at releasing patches. In the PvE department, Arenanet is experimenting with their Living Story which is about 30-60 minutes of new content released every 2 weeks followed by an endless grind for cosmetic gear. There is no end game. The hardest dungeon in the game is called Fractals, and it's incredibly easy even on the hardest difficulty. To reach to the hardest difficulty you need to run this dungeon 50 times, each time advancing in a difficulty tier. Furthermore, during the later levels you receive an irremovable debuff that will just kill you until you have the right gear. To obtain the right gear you complete Fractals over and over and over again for an item that will drop once per run per day in addition to crafting armors and weapons with dozens of materials that, again, you can only create once per day. It's a long and tedious grind that becomes stale very quickly.

The world bosses, while impressive looking, are stationary structures (yes they are actually classified as structures and not creatures) that occasionally fling attacks at you. For the majority of the world bosses, players gather at its feet and attack its toes until it dies and don't even get me started on the game's primary antagonist. Everything is just disappointing.

World vs World vs World (or WvW) is a mode that pits 3 different servers together for control of various structures in 5 different and huge maps. At first it was amazing. The giant battles that were waged at launch were simply spectacular, if not rough on my PC. However there are glaring balance issues in this mode from the different types of food you can eat which grant you obscene buffs that would just break the game. Furthermore as a competitive PvP player, I did not find much competition. There were instances where I would face off against 10+ people by myself and would end up victorious. Of course I can't completely fault Arenanet for the prowess, or lack thereof, of the players of its game. But quite frankly the game mode doesn't promote skill progression as much as it does reliance on gear and food.

PvP is the game mode which I enjoy and play the most. One of GW2 PvP's biggest strengths is the even playing field. There is no gear or level advantage. When you enter the PvP area you are immediately boosted to max level and have all your abilities unlocked. You are also given the same equipment as everyone else. Then it's all a matter of entering an arena and brawling. However like I said earlier, Arenanet is incredibly slow at releasing patches. This is very problematic when it comes to balance. For example, at a certain point in time Arenanet overbuffed the Warrior class and did not tone it down for over a year. Warriors dominated the entire PvP scene and simply put it was not fun to play (I do not play a Warrior). Balance patches come every 6 months and often aren't great though the current metagame is quite good.

There is only one game mode and quite frankly it's extremely stale 2+ years in. The devs have promised new things and, once again, are extremely slow at delivering. New content is being worked on they said over a year ago. A big problem with this single game mode is that Arenanet has balanced the classes in accordance to this game mode. That means if and when new game modes are released, there will be glaring balance issues. For example the current and only game mode is conquest which focuses on capturing and holding points. The Thief, which is an assassin type class, have a build that's focused on stealth. It's nearly unkillable and deals a lot of damage but isn't commonly used because while in stealth you cannot capture or prevent the capture of a point. If something like deathmatch is introduced, these once useless builds will now be dominating and further toss balance into disarray. And we do not want this because of the speed in which Arenanet releases patches.

The PvP population is extremely tiny relative to other competitive games. There are a few community organized tournaments every week/month and the same teams win every time simply because there is no competition. Part of that I attribute to the toxicity of the community. While nothing compared to other communities like DotA or LoL, players in this game just can't seem to get along much less form a team with one another.

I've run out of room so I'll just say that despite my disappointment for the potential of the game and the ineptitude of the devs, I still think it's the best MMO out there. Buy it now…Expand

This is not entirely the greatest game on earth but its not the worst and it shows. I took a break after a while because I was a wee bit disappointed in how long it takes to find certain events to get XP because this game doesnt hold your hand very much (Consider this a grateful thing) but it still shows promise basically because of almost everything you do gets you XP and thats what IThis is not entirely the greatest game on earth but its not the worst and it shows. I took a break after a while because I was a wee bit disappointed in how long it takes to find certain events to get XP because this game doesnt hold your hand very much (Consider this a grateful thing) but it still shows promise basically because of almost everything you do gets you XP and thats what I needed from a MMO for a long time. Because basically I dont last one very long and if I did, I would get bored but this game doesnt get you bored as fast as other MMO's however if you play long enough you feel like you want to take it easy and move on to something else which is totally fine. Its still money worth spent and please ignore these negative reviews because these people LOVE to complain about how much they dont like it and thats the problem with certain people's attitudes these days. Anyways this is still pretty fun and a great gem, you will not be disappointed. Unfortunately you still need a good computer to run it at ULTRA graphics that being said playing it on low settings isnt all that disappointing considering thats all my laptop can do for now till i get a better computer. This is revolutionary because its the first game to choose what you want to do without restrictions. World is really big and you can go to other races locations if you feel like it. However the personal story needs a really big facelift because I want it to be more personal rather than choosing what they made... THAT ISNT PERSONAL UNLESS YOU MAKE THE STORY YOU WANTED! Other than that I love this game I love the dialogue that non important characters say and the Asura is the most clever race I ever played on. GO ASURA! Thank you Arenanet for impressing me and not making me look bad. Yes I played the original but its nowhere near as fun as this one. This a truly a great gem you should try out and plus check the website because there is signup for a three day trial coming up this week!…Expand

After experiencing an MMO like guild wars 2, the thought of playing a game with backtracking fetch quests makes me shudder. The innovation in this game is like no other. Even though some MMOs such as DCUO eliminate backtracking it still has fetch quests and a ruptured community. In gw2 the graphics are stunning. The community is very pleasant due to the dynamic events system in the gameAfter experiencing an MMO like guild wars 2, the thought of playing a game with backtracking fetch quests makes me shudder. The innovation in this game is like no other. Even though some MMOs such as DCUO eliminate backtracking it still has fetch quests and a ruptured community. In gw2 the graphics are stunning. The community is very pleasant due to the dynamic events system in the game which require you to cooperate with other players instead of camping there and waiting for someone to kill it and loot its chest. It also paves the way for new MMOs as previous MMOs have either a pay-to-win or a monthly subscription fee, GW2 however doesnt need either of those. In game purchases are mostly for aesthetics and you only need to make one payment to play the game as long as you'd like.…Expand

This game should have two reviews, one pre-megaserver and one post it.
The pre-megaserver game was great. It had servers with their own communities and faces that you will most likely recognize. It also bolster the World V World population by how easy it is for guilds to recruit.
Each server/world has their own pride, much like a nation. And it was very easy to organize guild events.This game should have two reviews, one pre-megaserver and one post it.
The pre-megaserver game was great. It had servers with their own communities and faces that you will most likely recognize. It also bolster the World V World population by how easy it is for guilds to recruit.
Each server/world has their own pride, much like a nation. And it was very easy to organize guild events.
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With the advent of the megaserver, everything I mentioned above were destroyed.
Everyone now pve in one server which feels very bad to me because it's like helping your enemies in WvW get items/gold which they will use against you in WvW. What a stupid concept. Before this patch you know at least that most of the people you're helping on events were your own server pop with a few guests, now it's just mostly strangers. It's like taking a road trip, but instead of going with friends you pickup unknown peeps.------------------------------

Now, the only people that would like gw2 is newbies who didn't know about the pre-patch gw2. It's like Anet deliberately culled the veteran population of gw2 so they could appease the casual newbie players(newbies who will realize later on that there is now no meaningful endgame content). ------------------------

I don't know what anet is thinking. Besides, vets are the ones most likely to spend real money in the gem store. The only money they'll get from casual/newbie players are the game initial purchase. If it is their plan to gain short term money instead of guaranteed long term then it's probably an indicator that gw2 won't last much longer, and they're trying to get as much money before bailing out.---------------------------

This is why I'm leary of Wildstar too. The same publisher(NCSoft) in gw2 manages wildstar. It's easy for me to think that what changed the gw2 into a megaserver is a financial decision(so they would incur less bandwidth). And I have a nagging suspicion that NCsoft has a hand in that. If that's the case then what would NCsoft do in wildstar that changes game mechanics so much like the gw2 megablunder.
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I gave a 5(average) for the review because it is now just one of the one world generic mmo out there.…Expand

The best game ever created. After logging about 700 hours into the game, I decided that it was time to create a metacritic account and write my review. The game play is fantastic and has had me hooked for 2 years now. I personally love the graphics and the cartoony-ish feel of the game, although I know a lot of people don't. The community is amazing. Everyone is very friendly and helpful,The best game ever created. After logging about 700 hours into the game, I decided that it was time to create a metacritic account and write my review. The game play is fantastic and has had me hooked for 2 years now. I personally love the graphics and the cartoony-ish feel of the game, although I know a lot of people don't. The community is amazing. Everyone is very friendly and helpful, and I love talking to my fellow players. Same goes for the staff. I've only had one problem with the game (which was my fault) and they addressed it and took care of it immediately for me. The map is great as well. Tyria is very large and beautiful, with much to explore and many different events to take part in, such as fighting dragons. I'll admit that the story can be lacking at times, but I still found it very enjoyable. And it's not a big deal, since there is still so much more to do in the game. I know people that play countless hours every day and still haven't even started the campaign yet. PvP is also great, it's a simple "capture the points and kill each other mode" which I have found to be very enjoyable. And the best part about this game: It is constantly being updated. Every two weeks Arenanet comes out with a massive amount of free content that keeps me coming back every day. Overall, this game is incredible, and I would recommend it to anybody and everybody.…Expand

Not the groundbreaking, revolutionary game we were promised, but great nonetheless. This game combines the best features from other games, and adds its own flavour, making it even better. It's not as good as its claiming to be, but one of the best choices right now anyway. It does at times tend to feel like a singleplayer RPG though, so find a group to play with and you should be fine.

Wow. This game is something else it really is. I hate all bulky cartoonish WOW looking games and this game proves that a great game can look as good as its controls and feels as a great experience that you never want it to end. I have loof the Final Fantasy series, I have played all American titles from 1 to 14 but the mmos are very disappointing, I tried to love them as much as the singleWow. This game is something else it really is. I hate all bulky cartoonish WOW looking games and this game proves that a great game can look as good as its controls and feels as a great experience that you never want it to end. I have loof the Final Fantasy series, I have played all American titles from 1 to 14 but the mmos are very disappointing, I tried to love them as much as the single player games but its just not the same. I wish they could of succeed in convincing me but they suck. Guild Wars 2 is everything I wish Final fantasy 11 & 14 could of been and it does truly take it to another different Tier from its predecessor, guess what no monthly dues, even better worth every dime. Total hours played 200…Expand

Beautiful and incredibly extensive world, which despite it's gigantic size doesn't lose the touch for details. I generally don't like MMO's and this is essentially still an MMO with many of it's annoyances, but for some reason GW2 seemed much more sympathetic than the rest. Tyria is an amazing world to explore with many gorgeous vistas and I enjoyed my time spent in there. I loved theBeautiful and incredibly extensive world, which despite it's gigantic size doesn't lose the touch for details. I generally don't like MMO's and this is essentially still an MMO with many of it's annoyances, but for some reason GW2 seemed much more sympathetic than the rest. Tyria is an amazing world to explore with many gorgeous vistas and I enjoyed my time spent in there. I loved the character creation and all the differences in the branching story lines and different races, lots of replayability here. After capping the experience levels on 80 it lost the momentum for me and I was finishing the story for the sake of finishing it more than anything, but it still entertained me in a good way for hundreds of hours and that's an achievement that many other games can only dream of. 8/10…Expand

This mmo like many others was a gem in its beginnings and overtime depreciated into something less. Even so for a buy once play forever game the story and exploration alone are worth it even if most the zones are rectangles.

Like the original guild wars progressing through the story is the high point of the game; with exploration as a cherry on top. Like the original guild wars the endThis mmo like many others was a gem in its beginnings and overtime depreciated into something less. Even so for a buy once play forever game the story and exploration alone are worth it even if most the zones are rectangles.

Like the original guild wars progressing through the story is the high point of the game; with exploration as a cherry on top. Like the original guild wars the end game is limited. The original guild wars definitely had worthy end game content. The end game in guild wars 2 is an abomination of desolation. It wasn't always that way but that is what it evolved into.

Where guild wars 2 diverted from the original guild wars formula was the introduction of purple text gear. This changed the game from one where you mixed and matched your wardrobe of orange text gear gained from crafting, dungeons, and events with your skill sets on your character class to tailor stats and skills to whatever you feel like running on a given day: From this to a stat grind for the sole sake of grinding stats to gain coveted purple text items to sanctify your character with a stat advantage and no more.

The introduction of WvW levels added more grind for the sake of leveling siege weapons. This in turn made WvW itself a grind rather than a grand strategy operation where farming WvW levels 'made' WvW relevant. But the siege weapons your are grinding to level are press 1 release 1 static turrets that are boring to operate. There isn't much dynamism to siege weapon operation and you can't aim and calibrate said siege weapon and put an npc on it then run into the fray sword swinging and you never could.

Dungeons are the birth and monstrosity of filth, crap, and fire. No healing class or even healing sub class means that healing is supplemented by down state rez chains which themselves function as healing. Fortunately most dungeons weren't mandatory and presently it may also be the case that no dungeons are mandatory so if you want to run a dungeon or a raid you can do so in the umpteen other mmos.

The arena pvp was pretty bad the last time I played for a lengthy period of time mostly due to reprobate players. There was a good game here or there. This has been addressed to some degree with private arenas for the reprobates to conglomerate into so they don't degrade public arenas. My personal focus was on WvW however since it was unique to GW2 and arena combat is pretty standard.

Overall GW2 is one of the best mmos. It could have been better with expansions, new classes, new class skills and class skill lines, reformed WvW to a higher degree than erasing lakes and outcroppings that never should have existed to being with. But it seems the story of present mmos is one of fixing the negativity that never should have been rather than adding positivity in the form of the things mentioned in the first sentence of this paragraph. Even so GW2 is an excellent time sink; one of the best time sink/money mmos ever and at the end of the day that is what you look for in an mmo.…Expand

Awesome game, everything is great until you will do everything. Endgame almost isn't existing. Stopped playing this regularly year ago after 1500 hours and completing all my tasks - get nice looking armor, legendary weapon and all achievements from pve. PvP as for me is boring, only edge of the mists give some fun but how long you can do one and the same thing over and over. There was noAwesome game, everything is great until you will do everything. Endgame almost isn't existing. Stopped playing this regularly year ago after 1500 hours and completing all my tasks - get nice looking armor, legendary weapon and all achievements from pve. PvP as for me is boring, only edge of the mists give some fun but how long you can do one and the same thing over and over. There was no new content, maps and all that could force me to play more this game for long time. Lately Arena Net started to release updates regularly with more interesting story and permanent content to pve what brought me back to game. To play this you only need to pay for game and believe me, this is worth it. No subscription, not using gem shop will not make you looser. Just some skins and other things that no one really needs. There is a lot of content to do. If you care about content to price value go ahead and play this. As new player you will be overwhelmed by content…Expand

Quick, fast-paced and semi-fun. GW2 was a slight change of pace for the MMO scene. In honesty however, it couldn't manage to find myself spending much time with this game. Despite its relevant fun and semi interest, it quickly dried up and just became another MMO incapable of maintaining a flailing interest. Playable, not replayable.

Guild Wars... the counter part of World of Warcraft.
I have played Guild Wars 1 since Factions came out (1st expansion) and loved it till the end.
And in the months before the release of Guild Wars 2 it became clear to me that I had to have it as well.
I have played this game a lot (I have 10 characters) and loved it.
Gameplay
The gameplay is unique, it's the first in it's kindGuild Wars... the counter part of World of Warcraft.
I have played Guild Wars 1 since Factions came out (1st expansion) and loved it till the end.
And in the months before the release of Guild Wars 2 it became clear to me that I had to have it as well.

I have played this game a lot (I have 10 characters) and loved it.

Gameplay
The gameplay is unique, it's the first in it's kind and it's grand!

Starting off the combat alone is smooth and thrilling. Spells/skills you use look amazing and feel great!
The dodging and running around in combat feels natural and gives you a lot of freedom. I found this feature the best of the combat system, because it makes it more dynamic and gives you the feeling you are REALLY fighting!

Then there's the environmental jumping puzzles, which are fun to do but sometimes frustrating as well.
In some occasions jumps are nearly impossible to get due to camera clipping in low caves or delay in pressing the button and doing the action.
Otherwise, it is a creative feature that more games could use!

You also get the drive to explore on each map you go to, every corner holds something new and exciting.
The dynamic events are surprising, but boring after a while, because you can time them.
So there should be more dynamic events that occur random, not on certain times.

Dungeons and mechanics are really cool as well, only the same thing happens as with the story.. the dungeon stories get boring.
Some dungeons remain challenging (the last one for instance and Fractals of the Mists), but I think overall the dungeon balance is cool.

The looting system however is not rewarding at all. Chances that you loot something good looking (for stats are all the same) are not great. As are the tokens you get from dungeons. It's alright to get less tokens when repeating the same dungeon, but the amount of tokens you need for... a skin. Is too much...

Story
Racial and personal stories are cool and thought through very well, although if you have so many characters like I did... you eventually start to get bored of the stories and it starts to feel like a grind.

Same goes for the dungeons, although some are hard enough to still be challenging after a while (just like Fractals).

Graphics & Audio
The graphics are great, skills look really good and are easy to spot from one another.
Every single map urges you to explore it, thus showing it's great beauty.
And then there's the audio, music recorded with a real orchestra sounds amazing and brings a positive atmosphere into the game.

Skill sounds, voices, etc. are destinct and neat.

Conclusion
I love this game for it's smooth combat system, the dynamic and beautiful world and the community!
Although it gets boring over time to repeat the dungeons and stories over and over again, it's good to see a new MMO RPG concept rise.

I'm curious about the expansion, which looks equally great so far!…Expand

A Completionists' and Adventurers' paradise. It's not only the best MMO per dollar, but the most detailed and magnificent world I have ever been a part of. It's a go anywhere, do anything type of game. Level up's don't really constrict you as you can gain experience from everything and anywhere. People are friendly and it's open party system keeps people interested in helping orA Completionists' and Adventurers' paradise. It's not only the best MMO per dollar, but the most detailed and magnificent world I have ever been a part of. It's a go anywhere, do anything type of game. Level up's don't really constrict you as you can gain experience from everything and anywhere. People are friendly and it's open party system keeps people interested in helping or resurrecting strangers.

Every time I put down this game and pick it up again, I find myself asking the same question. Why the hell did I stop playing this?

Down side? People don't like weapon skills. It has a long range of character customization but it mostly always boils down to what weapon you want to use. I personally can't stand using anything but dual daggers/pistols on my rogue.

I'm a bit of an mmo fanatic, I tend to try out (if not purchase) nearly every major mmo release. I'm a long-time WoW player (I started on day one of release and only very recently stopped playing regularly), and I've also made my way through FFXI, Rift, SWTOR, Warhammer, FFXIV, The Secret World, Tera, and a number of others. For years I found myself returning to WoW because other games,I'm a bit of an mmo fanatic, I tend to try out (if not purchase) nearly every major mmo release. I'm a long-time WoW player (I started on day one of release and only very recently stopped playing regularly), and I've also made my way through FFXI, Rift, SWTOR, Warhammer, FFXIV, The Secret World, Tera, and a number of others. For years I found myself returning to WoW because other games, while ambitious, frequently fell down in one area or another and failed to really capture my attention. Often the graphics lacked any real art style, or the questing was repetitive or the story lacked distinction. Guild Wars 2 finally seems to have gotten it right. Unlike many games I don't get the impression that they were trying to make the next wow-killer. Rather they seemed focused on just making the most engaging game they could and it really shows. The art and graphics are beautiful and atmospheric, I often enter a new area and find myself screeching to a halt to stop and appreciate the environment. The story, while unfamiliar to me (I didn't really play GW1) seems well crafted and the personal storyline is drawing me in to this new world and making me care about characters that aren't Thrall or Jaina. I recently received a msg in my game mail in response to a completed quest that was so charming that I haven't wanted to delete it and frequently my guildmates and I are sharing snippets of npc conversation that we overhear as we travel this online world.
As for gameplay, I'll admit that initially part of me was doubtful about doing away with the holy trinity of tank, dps and healer. But removing these set roles seems to make everyone have to focus on working together, an interesting and at times difficult challenge but it's proving to be rewarding. Being able to change up abilities by swapping weapons really helps keep combat fresh and interesting and the combo system encourages you yet again to learn how to play well with others and then rewards you substantially for doing so.
Above all I love the questing system, I feel like my job is to go off and explore and find adventure rather than to follow a trail of breadcrumbs and perform a list of chores and that's why I play games, so I can be a big damn hero. GW2 has definitely won me over.…Expand

I started Guild Wars 2 a skeptic. It looked like WoW, controlled like WoW, and follows the same basic structure that revolutionized the genre, but grew stale (for me) over the years. Comparisons to WoW are definitely fair, but somehow Guild Wars 2 makes everything fresh and fun again. The ability to instantly teleport to any waypoint you have visited is incredible. The action packedI started Guild Wars 2 a skeptic. It looked like WoW, controlled like WoW, and follows the same basic structure that revolutionized the genre, but grew stale (for me) over the years. Comparisons to WoW are definitely fair, but somehow Guild Wars 2 makes everything fresh and fun again. The ability to instantly teleport to any waypoint you have visited is incredible. The action packed combat feels like more then a numbers game. You don't just stand next to your foe exchanging blows and cycling skills. Rather, you jump and dodge, switching weapons on the fly. Colossal world bosses inhabit even the starting zones, and I love the jumping puzzles (essentially platforming segments) that inhabit hidden caves and lead to treasure. The way that higher level characters get downleveled in lower zones in brilliant. It makes it fun to run around with friends that are higher/lower level then you. When you face a boss, you both get to contribute (instead of a max level character one shotting it for you). So yes, I give this a 10. I wanted to be disappointed by this one, but I'm having a blast so far.…Expand

Played the betas, and read all the hype. I'm max level now, and it was even BETTER than expected. By FAR the most meaningful dynamic combat system in any MMO, despite not advertising it. Dodging and positioning actually matters in this game, unlike TERA or Mabinogi Legends where it's mostly for show. If you're not dodging in the endgame dungeons, you're gonna die. That's it. Graphics notPlayed the betas, and read all the hype. I'm max level now, and it was even BETTER than expected. By FAR the most meaningful dynamic combat system in any MMO, despite not advertising it. Dodging and positioning actually matters in this game, unlike TERA or Mabinogi Legends where it's mostly for show. If you're not dodging in the endgame dungeons, you're gonna die. That's it. Graphics not the best but big MMOs always have toned down graphics to attract more people. GREAT armor design. Not stupidly sexy or ridiculously fantastic, but fashionable and realistic. The only game with similar amount of content is WoW. SWTOR, Aion, TERA, Secret World etc don't even come close. And best of all, NO PAY2WIN. Only pay4skins. There isn't a single item in the shop that makes you better at PvP. Like Guild Wars 1, GW2 has staying power. Games like Aion and Rift quickly dropped to a few thousand concurrent players, GW1 still has several times that amount after 7 years. GW2 will be even better.…Expand

Simply put, if you give the game your time, you will get the fun the game allows. It starts you right into the action, and craving more in between. I've been excited for this game since its announcement; I was a huge GW fan. But to say the least, this game has still beaten my expectations even 72+ hours into game, and i don't see it getting boring anytime soon. Skipping the details, thisSimply put, if you give the game your time, you will get the fun the game allows. It starts you right into the action, and craving more in between. I've been excited for this game since its announcement; I was a huge GW fan. But to say the least, this game has still beaten my expectations even 72+ hours into game, and i don't see it getting boring anytime soon. Skipping the details, this game deserves a 10. The story is really well thought out, though the dialog can be a bit strange, and the combat system is fresh into the MMO scene, considering GW1 technically wasn't an MMO. That being said, this game feels like an RPG, and still sucks you in like the best of the best MMOs. So do yourself a favor by getting this game. Without a subscription fee, its impossible to pass the temptation.…Expand

It's the first time in many years I had that much fun playing a video game! It's not that new, but it's so refreshing! With all the dynamic events, the view points that requires some jumping here and there, points of interests, crafting and gathering. Everything is fun and worth doing in any zones! You always get xp and challenge! It's always different.
Best game for me in the 5 years

The game is astonishing, I have played WoW for 6 years and every other MMO I haven't even bothered to try, all of them have been the same. Finally a game breaks the mold. I quit WoW almost a year ago now (DS my final raid after raiding everything since Vanilla). I won't sit and explain what most of the critics have already said, suffice to say, even if you don't like RPG's or MMO's, giveThe game is astonishing, I have played WoW for 6 years and every other MMO I haven't even bothered to try, all of them have been the same. Finally a game breaks the mold. I quit WoW almost a year ago now (DS my final raid after raiding everything since Vanilla). I won't sit and explain what most of the critics have already said, suffice to say, even if you don't like RPG's or MMO's, give the game a go, it has something for everyone.…Expand

Really funny game! I already spend 300 hs on it and don't regret buying it. Some times the non-story-quest get really boring(but it always happen in all MMOs). For me this game has four strong points: -It encourages you to explore the world
-If people help you in a quest is really helpful and not annoying like in others MMO
-No monthly fee, Play whenever you want without guiltinessReally funny game! I already spend 300 hs on it and don't regret buying it. Some times the non-story-quest get really boring(but it always happen in all MMOs). For me this game has four strong points: -It encourages you to explore the world
-If people help you in a quest is really helpful and not annoying like in others MMO
-No monthly fee, Play whenever you want without guiltiness
-And the best it's the WvWvW and PvP, really really addictive…Expand

Guild Wars 2 is without a doubt the best MMO on the market today and it is only 3 days old as I write this. After playing the game since Beta it has ruined every other MMO out there for me. No game available today can touch it. There are pieces of other games that when added up could be as good as this game is but not one MMO has as much awesome as this one does. While waiting forGuild Wars 2 is without a doubt the best MMO on the market today and it is only 3 days old as I write this. After playing the game since Beta it has ruined every other MMO out there for me. No game available today can touch it. There are pieces of other games that when added up could be as good as this game is but not one MMO has as much awesome as this one does. While waiting for Guild Wars 2 to be released I played a few of the "top" MMOs out to kill time. Let me tell you this, I didn't last more than one hour in any of them. After getting a taste of what Guild Wars 2 had to offer every one I tried seemed stale, tired or just plain boring.…Expand

GW2 is not a "WoW" killer because "WoW" is already been killed by blizzard maybe 3-4 years ago. First thing i experienced was that you don't spend time talking to NPC in order to receive a quest which i believe is a great way of making mmo-rpg fun because you already consume time walking around the world clueless. However i'm gonna make it easy for those that are debating to try a new MMOGW2 is not a "WoW" killer because "WoW" is already been killed by blizzard maybe 3-4 years ago. First thing i experienced was that you don't spend time talking to NPC in order to receive a quest which i believe is a great way of making mmo-rpg fun because you already consume time walking around the world clueless. However i'm gonna make it easy for those that are debating to try a new MMO by stating few key points on why you should get GW2. Of course i might have missed few things but i only wrote on what interested the most. Everyone is different and experience differently (not everyone is gonna like GW2).

Positives
+If you are sick of WoW, then you should try GW2. +If you don't like talking to NPC's then you should get GW2. +If you love "zergfest questing," then you should get GW2 (i actually like zergfest, not sure what people are complaining about).
+Better graphics than WoW (anything is)?
+No rush on leveling
+Free to play
+No more debating on healers/dps/tanks
+Easy questing overall
Negatives
-Getting use to a new MMO (especially after playing WoW for 4 years).
-Walking/moving dynamics feels a little weird and camera view (maybe it's just me).
-Not user-friendly for those that are new to GW2.…Expand

This Is The Best MMO So Far ! I usually never write reviews but this game deserves it. I played WOW from the beginning and this game actually made me stop playing WOW. SWTOR failed to do that and I thought I would never see a MMO that would change that, but it did. I know it has some problems but I'm sure they will get them fixed in the coming updates. The one thing I really don't like isThis Is The Best MMO So Far ! I usually never write reviews but this game deserves it. I played WOW from the beginning and this game actually made me stop playing WOW. SWTOR failed to do that and I thought I would never see a MMO that would change that, but it did. I know it has some problems but I'm sure they will get them fixed in the coming updates. The one thing I really don't like is the ingame store and the biggest grip I have with that is the extra bag slots you have to purchase and crafting bag slots for every new character I'm really against that or they should change it so karma points will buy bag slots. As for the rest of the items in the store there no big deal since leveling in this game is best so far it doesn't feel like it drags so you don't feel the need to purchase store XP boosts. And I like how it slows down gold farmers since you can use your gems to buy gold. I Like that idea. That would be my biggest grip with the game. But the this game has awesome gameplay you really have to try it to see how it puts to shame all the other MMOs. And one guy who reviewed this game said that he doesn't like the way you have to unlock skills. He is wrong WOW does that this too once you get to a certain level you have to buy more skills with gold. But this game uses skill points to buy more skills and it seems you can buy more skills even after you level capped but don't worry there is a limit to the skills you can get. But once you get them all it's like getting more ways to play the game. I Have to say this even with the store flaw this game. This is the Best MMO to date ! The reason I didn't give it a 10 is because nothing is perfect. Sorry for the spelling mistakes and grammar issues But I'm Limited on time I have to leave Town on a trip. All the users reviews that are low are most likely WOW fan boys and you tell by they way they compare this game to WOW.…Expand

I am not a big MMO fan. I did play Age of Conan and LOTRO for about a year... but they could not keep my attention. The reason: some quests require a party. I don't play enough to join a guild; I just want to jump in for 30-60 mins and have fun. I have played GW2 for about 10 hours and have not had to join up with anyone. I can essentially play the game solo with group events occuringI am not a big MMO fan. I did play Age of Conan and LOTRO for about a year... but they could not keep my attention. The reason: some quests require a party. I don't play enough to join a guild; I just want to jump in for 30-60 mins and have fun. I have played GW2 for about 10 hours and have not had to join up with anyone. I can essentially play the game solo with group events occuring randomly... no need to "get organized". I really like this approach that caters to my class of gamer. Now, how well this works in high level zones with smaller populations remains to be seen... but for now I'm very pleased with my $60 purchase.…Expand

One of those games where you can tell the artists just sat back and enjoyed themselves. They level of detail to areas shows that the designers put their hearts into each and every little thing. I couldn't really compare the level of detail with any other mmo. I think it looks more like Dark Souls and even has the combat moves influenced by it. Each move does something distinct. MostOne of those games where you can tell the artists just sat back and enjoyed themselves. They level of detail to areas shows that the designers put their hearts into each and every little thing. I couldn't really compare the level of detail with any other mmo. I think it looks more like Dark Souls and even has the combat moves influenced by it. Each move does something distinct. Most mmos have the problem with having too much clutter. In Guild wars, you have the option. You can switch between weapons at level 11 making your combat even more unique. Ultimately the game is 60 bucks with no monthly fee. They don't ask for a credit card to keep on hold. Why is it that when a company has your credit card information they are bound to take at least one payment? I don't remember guild wars that much but it doesn't matter, Guild Wars 2 doesn't want you to. It does everything new, it's a new game with great features and an easy to get into but difficult to master atmosphere. This is no baby mmo like Wow. It has it's fair share of challenges and some stages can require some tact. Still if you have a decent PC pick this up you won't regret it.…Expand

I like this game. Is it perfect? No. But I dare you to name a perfect game. Sure, the dynamic events was done in Rift, and sure the combat system is similar to Tera, and the quest system is similar to Warhammer, but who really cares? IMO they were done better in GW2 and that's more important. I find the graphics to be good, not the best ever, but then again, I'm not a graphics fanaticI like this game. Is it perfect? No. But I dare you to name a perfect game. Sure, the dynamic events was done in Rift, and sure the combat system is similar to Tera, and the quest system is similar to Warhammer, but who really cares? IMO they were done better in GW2 and that's more important. I find the graphics to be good, not the best ever, but then again, I'm not a graphics fanatic and I certainly can't believe anyone finds them to be "bad." I haven't experienced any of this "floaty" or "disconnected" game play/controls, I honestly don't get it, I find the controls and the combat to be fun. And personally, I find the smaller amount of available skills to be fun, the one thing that I came to dislike about WoW (and saw that SWTOR has done) is the insane amount of skills on action bars you would have on your interface, which just caused annoying clutter to me, almost half of your screen is buttons and menus. To me that seems less like I'm playing a game, and more like I'm monitoring equipment of some kind, almost like working. One complaint that I do have is the lame selection of Elite skills, at least on my Norn. 3 of the first available 5 are shape shifting, and 1 of the 2nd tier is shape shifting, they might be fun, but that's not really my style. And whilst perusing through the numerous negatives, I see a lot of comparison to SWTOR, and that just irritates me to no end. Quit comparing games to other games. There's a reason this game is called "Guild Wars 2" and not "Star Wars: The Old Republic," they're different games made by different people with different features, the only similarity is that they're MMOs.…Expand

Its a good Casual Game, with great PvP. But it is NOT the best MMORP of the last Years. The story is lame and presents acts thrown together, Events seem to have nothing like quests ( kill XY 90% of the Events) still to often as a Hack & Slay ( more then 3 Players at a Event)
There are many other examples where you realize that it's just standard, only the PvP is great! But it is GuildIts a good Casual Game, with great PvP. But it is NOT the best MMORP of the last Years. The story is lame and presents acts thrown together, Events seem to have nothing like quests ( kill XY 90% of the Events) still to often as a Hack & Slay ( more then 3 Players at a Event)
There are many other examples where you realize that it's just standard, only the PvP is great! But it is Guild Wars, I expected this.
My Score ist 8.5 /10…Expand

An excellent breath of fresh air in the field of MMO's: While not ground breakingly different from the standard formula it does more than enough to keep both MMO veterans, and new comers alike entertained for hours on end.

Many of tje negative reviews here are personal issues, rather than true reviews of the game. Sad really. If you review at least say you do not like the graphics or mechanics, something objective. Anyhow, Guild Wars 2 in my humble opinion is simply awesome. Easily worth $60 investment and perhaps even some cash shop appearance items. Who can resist a few cool or cute minis following youMany of tje negative reviews here are personal issues, rather than true reviews of the game. Sad really. If you review at least say you do not like the graphics or mechanics, something objective. Anyhow, Guild Wars 2 in my humble opinion is simply awesome. Easily worth $60 investment and perhaps even some cash shop appearance items. Who can resist a few cool or cute minis following you around. The best part of the cash shop is that there are no items in it that are needed t play play the game to its fullest. Its simply cosmetic or convenient. I think the look in the world is awesome. I've caught myself just looking around in awe more than once. Coming out of one particular shore town I walked out on to the beachand rounding rock cropping there on the water line, I looked up to see in the distances across the water a huge floating rock island with a castle on it. Mega awesome moment. The graphics are not state of the art, using older tech, but the way Anet uses that tech is stunning. And optimized for even slightly older machines. I use 5i intel with Nvidia 460GTX average fps is in the 60s. Do not listen to the griefers or the haters. Buy this game and enjoy the sovial aspect of the game. Play at your own speed. A++…Expand

First off, this game is nothing like the first. Each have their own qualities and differences. The world is beautiful and there are decently sized zones which I wish were less rectangular and maybe a bit larger, but no game is perfect. Then there are the classes. As someone who loves combat and strategy in a combination, the engineer is dominant in both categories. And the best part isFirst off, this game is nothing like the first. Each have their own qualities and differences. The world is beautiful and there are decently sized zones which I wish were less rectangular and maybe a bit larger, but no game is perfect. Then there are the classes. As someone who loves combat and strategy in a combination, the engineer is dominant in both categories. And the best part is that the engineer neither feels underpowered or static in its abilities. It takes factors from games like TERA such as real time dodging and weapon size making a factor on how much is required to back up to dodge. Also there is nothing more badass then being a mesmer with a floating two handed sword that shoots magic. There are tons of ways to mix up your class depending on what you can use, like an engineer can use a unique pistol and shield combination, hunters using guns and throwing weapons at the same time, and so on. As stated by others, this game has a strange dynamic questing system, as in there are no quests, but rather areas for completing various tasks for a final quest-like reward. This makes the game not a back and forth rinse and repeat game, but lets you explore the world without constantly checking the quest log where to go. If there was any way to describe this game shortly I would say it's a game that takes the good qualities out of other MMO's and combines them in a new and interesting way, as well as adding new elements on top. It's the correct way an MMO should be made.…Expand

I have to say, it's been a very long time since I've found so much enjoyment in a game. A long time since I got so much for my money. A long time since I can say I've truly enjoyed almost every aspect of a game. And that game is GW2. The game does have its flaws, but they're nothing major.

The combat is a little less 'actiony' than TERA but I welcome the change as I felt TERA was aI have to say, it's been a very long time since I've found so much enjoyment in a game. A long time since I got so much for my money. A long time since I can say I've truly enjoyed almost every aspect of a game. And that game is GW2. The game does have its flaws, but they're nothing major.

The combat is a little less 'actiony' than TERA but I welcome the change as I felt TERA was a little too 'all over the place' and chaotic. GW2 finds a nice balance between TERAs combat and WoWs combat. All classes heal themselves, can survive if you play them well and can be good at dealing damage. I have yet to see a situation where I went 'damn, I need an _____'. If I die, it's cause I failed to dodge, stood in AoE or ignored my heal.

Questing is a combination of Dynamic Events (events which happen in the world around you and often tell the story of a zone (centaur attacks, portals to the netherworld, ongoing struggle against dragon minions etc)) and Renown Hearts ('standard quests' marked by large hearts where you have several ways to help out locals, Renown Hearts generally tell the story of the people who live in their zone/their daily lives). Together, these make the game unique and interesting. I also have to say that it really rewards exploration and getting lost in the world.

Each race feels truly unique (and in 4/5 cases, unique to the genre itself) and classes all feel different (I love how a Warrior uses a Longbow differently than a Ranger). Some people are complaining that your first 5 skills are determined by your weapon, but I rather enjoy the concept of having a certain fighting style with a weapon versus it simply being a stat stick. I do however wish there were slightly more options within a weapon, just incase I didn;t like 1 out of 5 greatsword skills or wanted to change things up.

Perhaps the biggest current complaint is the supposed 'lack of endgame' but that's, in truth, almost a non-issue. If you take your time enjoying the game as you go, taking time to explore and craft and perhaps even jump into some World vs World vs World or structured PvP, you won't have to worry about any sort of grind and the game will feel plenty full. Pair that with 12 dungeons JUST for level 80 and a total of 32 dungeons in the game AS WELL AS continuing support from ANet in the way of added Dynamic Events and possibly even more dungeons or regions ASIDE from planned Expansions, and the game has a ton of stuff to do now, with more on the way.…Expand

Stop for a second and just take a long, hard look at Guild Wars 2... and open your mind. The game is not infallible - no game is and a 10 is not an indicator hereof - but the game does so, so, so many things right. From encouraging people to help each other and be nice by not punishing team efforts, to its marvellous artistic vision, to its engine's sheer ingenuity and power (compare thisStop for a second and just take a long, hard look at Guild Wars 2... and open your mind. The game is not infallible - no game is and a 10 is not an indicator hereof - but the game does so, so, so many things right. From encouraging people to help each other and be nice by not punishing team efforts, to its marvellous artistic vision, to its engine's sheer ingenuity and power (compare this game's engine to other MMO engines of the past half decade - it's fantastic), to it's wonderful gameplay. We have not seen anything this well crafted for a decade. With Guild Wars 2 you're watching not only one of the best games of the last decade, you are also given the opportunity to herald in a new age of gaming; one where subscription fee isn't a given, one where a cash-shop doesn't equal monetizing people shamelessly, one where fun, cooperation and team-effort is rewarded and encouraged rather than not. An age where a game's longevity is determined by its fun and enjoyment rather than grindy gear treadmills. You can support this by buying Guild Wars 2.... Or you can breathe a bit of life into a stale, stagnant and dying iteration of the genre by holing up in your comfort zone and buying MoP. The choice should be easy; GW2 is not only a better game but also comes from a company that respects corporate CSR, whereas the other comes from a company that hasn't delivered a unique IP in over 12 years, who shamelessly monetize consumers through treadmills and who's under the aegis of Activision, notorious for its lack of Corporate Social Responsibility.…Expand

Starting with the good, this is a fantastic MMO. The combat is a big improvement on the standard button mash and stand still that a lot of MMOs have established. The world is gorgeous, you actually have lots of motivation to explore instead of grinding the same spot. Leveling is easy, so if you want to hit end-game you can do so. Even then, you don't need to hit end-game to enjoy the PvPStarting with the good, this is a fantastic MMO. The combat is a big improvement on the standard button mash and stand still that a lot of MMOs have established. The world is gorgeous, you actually have lots of motivation to explore instead of grinding the same spot. Leveling is easy, so if you want to hit end-game you can do so. Even then, you don't need to hit end-game to enjoy the PvP and WvW because you are scaled up. Overall, awesome experience for the first few days playing with friends. Also, the launch was great. I logged in the second servers became available at 9 pm PST and enjoyed hours of play. A few things were down, like trading and mail, but compared to some other big launches (Diablo 3) at least I could play immediately.

The bad - I haven't been able to play for three days. Won't get into details but in short I changed my password because of recent hacks and now I can't log in. Support is being swarmed with users having similar login issues, so as a relatively young company not used to dealing with this much traffic don't expect much help beyond a confirmation for a while. Not saying they are a trash company - I'm saying that if you haven't bought this game yet, do yourself a favour and wait a few weeks. By then support will be working, there won't be in-game problems like mail system and trading being down, and you can fully enjoy the game from day 1 of purchase.…Expand

This game is a lot of fun. People who get involved in the story and want to quickly move to the next chapters might get frustrated at higher levels, as the game encourages (forces, rather) non-linear play. Other than that, the experience is unmatched by any other MMO. Rewarding PvE and PvP combat, beautiful environments, clean interfaces, and great voice acting and music.

Guild Wars 2 is the most fun I've ever had playing an MMO, and I may end up deciding it's the most fun I've ever had with any video game.

To provide some context, I've played Ultima Online, Wow, the original Guild Wars, and SWTOR. For a variety of reasons, none of them kept my interest for too long. GW1 showed promise but didn't feel like the full-fledged MMO I was looking for.
ThenGuild Wars 2 is the most fun I've ever had playing an MMO, and I may end up deciding it's the most fun I've ever had with any video game.

To provide some context, I've played Ultima Online, Wow, the original Guild Wars, and SWTOR. For a variety of reasons, none of them kept my interest for too long. GW1 showed promise but didn't feel like the full-fledged MMO I was looking for.

Then GW2 came along. It retains all of the best parts of GW1 (the environments, emphasis on skills, etc.) and improves on everything the original got wrong. GW2 is fully persistent, has improved crafting, improved presentation, improved questing (i.e. "dynamic events"), open-world PvP ("WvW"), and still doesn't have a subscription fee. This is a big point for someone like me with a job that demands long hours and a six-month-old. I play when I have time, and if I don't have time, I don't have to worry about "wasting" $15 per month. Also, the level of polish is extraordinary. You may say that many of the features listed above aren't new, and that's true. But they all work so well that they still feel refreshing.

There are other little things that really increase my enjoyment in game. These include being able to deposit collectibles into the bank from anywhere in the world, fast travel, and getting experience rewards for just about everything. It's hard to imagine playing an MMO without these features after having experienced them.

Perhaps my favorite improvement is the combat. Gone are the days of staring at my skill bar and going through rotations. Just as ArenaNet intended, I find myself actually watching the fight, using skills on the fly as appropriate, dodging, and focusing on positioning. It may not seem like much, but considering that a big part of any MMO is combat, these improvements make the game much more fun than the other MMOs I've played.

Is there any room for improvement? Of course, The trading post was down for a while (but is up now), and there have been a few bugs to work out, but: (a) that's to be expected with any MMO launch; and (b) it hasn't detracted from my enjoyment of the game. Simply put, I've had an absolute blast every second I've spent in GW2.

One final thing I want to say is about the reviewers who are complaining about bans and giving the game a zero. THIS IS A GOOD THING. 99.9% of people who play the game will never have to worry about being banned because they won't pick racist character names or intentionally exploit bugs, thereby ruining the economy for others. And make no mistake, the people who were banned were intentionally exploiting things. ArenaNet stated that the only people who were permanently banned were exploiting the same bug hundreds of times, and the bug itself was that rare gear was priced at 1/1000th of its normal price. If you bought something hundreds of times at 1/1000th of its normal price, you knew what you were doing and have no excuse. For the rest of us, we should be thrilled that ArenaNet is sticking to their guns and preserving the integrity of the game for the non-exploiters at the expense of a few 0's on Metacritic.

Bottom line: if you have even a passing interest in MMOs, get this game. And if you don't, watch a couple videos and read some more reviews, and if you're at all interested, get the game. Without a subscription fee, GW2 is a relatively low-risk purchase with a ton of upside.…Expand

I think the average user score is quite fair. There are obviously some people who may not like the game, Blizzard fanboi's aside. The days of tough, complex MMO's are long gone to make way for the 10 year old gamer generation. The lack of End Game will probably affect this game sooner or later, while PvP is fun the imbalance really affects it and constant battles just outside our world'sI think the average user score is quite fair. There are obviously some people who may not like the game, Blizzard fanboi's aside. The days of tough, complex MMO's are long gone to make way for the 10 year old gamer generation. The lack of End Game will probably affect this game sooner or later, while PvP is fun the imbalance really affects it and constant battles just outside our world's spawn area have really ruined the experience for me. After a few hours of WvW I really haven't seen any of the mechanics apart from spamming each other in the middle of nowhere. Unless there is some balance in place PvP at the moment really minds me of the old Tarren Mill vs Southshore days of WoW.

PvE is fun but getting locked in to 4 skills per weapon is starting to become old already and I'm not even very high level. Traits etc might break this up but it doesn't really seem to be enough. Instead of swapping weapons it would be good if you could just use both weapon skill sets on the fly to make it a little less monotonous.

F2P is a good feature especially on a high a end title but I'm sure content will be released quite quickly that we will need to fork out cash for and buying gems etc is already looking quite tempting.

Will it stand up against Mists of Pandaria or the test of time? We will see.…Expand

The game is amazing. One of my biggest concern with most games is combat. I've played ToR, Aion, and Rift. One of the things i hated about most of those games was the combat. especially ToR. Some abilities would have the animation take priority over the effect, so you would basically use and "instant cast" stun but it's animation would take 2 seconds! To some this isn't really a big dealThe game is amazing. One of my biggest concern with most games is combat. I've played ToR, Aion, and Rift. One of the things i hated about most of those games was the combat. especially ToR. Some abilities would have the animation take priority over the effect, so you would basically use and "instant cast" stun but it's animation would take 2 seconds! To some this isn't really a big deal but to me it's pretty game breaking especially in PvP. One of the major reasons I kept going back to WoW was because of the combat, it just flows way better than any of those games. Guild Wars 2 combat isn't as great in terms of flow but the way its structured is really good. You run around with 2 weapon sets (1 for elementalists but you get 4 elements to swap through instead) and you swap them around during combat. You can really customize your play style by having a burst combination in set and a tanky combo in the other or w/e you like. The pvp in this game is also amazing. The sPvP is really putting an emphasis on skill rather than gear as everyone has equivalent gear. World vs. World vs. World pvp is HUUUUUUUUUUUGE think of like 4 or 5 Tol' Borads put together. Although you can only zone into one of the four areas it is still pretty big area. Combat and more specifically PvP are an important part for me playing an MMO and this game has great combat and great PvP. If you're like me and enjoy these aspects of the game I really do recommend this game. I mean even Arena Net are hosting their own tournaments for this game and have high hopes of it becoming an eSport.…Expand

This game is amazing. i love wow and all blizzard games but this game is better than wow in almost every way. all the young kids or ignorant adults that are giving this game a 0 because there computer sucks or has no good maintenance are stupid and quickly show that they wont ever rate any game fairly. for one, they gave the game a 0 on day 1 of release. which shows they didnt even botherThis game is amazing. i love wow and all blizzard games but this game is better than wow in almost every way. all the young kids or ignorant adults that are giving this game a 0 because there computer sucks or has no good maintenance are stupid and quickly show that they wont ever rate any game fairly. for one, they gave the game a 0 on day 1 of release. which shows they didnt even bother to check the whole game out before reviewing it. or they can just be wow fanboys. a lot of work had to go in this game from what i see and i cant disrespect the developer by giving them a 0 because the game has a few bugs or small launch issues that will be fixed. when diablo came out it was unplayable for me because i would get kicked every 30 seconds but as frustrated as i was, i didnt come in here and gave them a 0. the problem is now fixed and the game is great. metacritic needs to figure out how to get these dumb 0 score reviewers out of here soon. be fair with this game and all games and dont hate or be mad that your computer sucks and makes the game play like crap. this is the wow killer and i love wow but i admit that this is it. but now is diablo, starcraft and guildwars 2 from now on for me.…Expand

First MMORPG I've truly enjoyed since oldschool Star Wars Galaxies. Tyria is utterly gorgeous, and yet it's not the kind of resource hog you find in games like Age of Conan - the setpieces are absolute art, and everything is very efficiently rendered. The gameplay itself is a breath of fresh air. Everything feels fluid and natural - for once I can explore areas at my leisure, go follow myFirst MMORPG I've truly enjoyed since oldschool Star Wars Galaxies. Tyria is utterly gorgeous, and yet it's not the kind of resource hog you find in games like Age of Conan - the setpieces are absolute art, and everything is very efficiently rendered. The gameplay itself is a breath of fresh air. Everything feels fluid and natural - for once I can explore areas at my leisure, go follow my friends around and just enjoy the game world without worrying about quest "chore" lists. I'm just getting into pvp, but so far it seems like it'll be fun and challenging, and not entirely dependant on gear. Another amazing aspect of this game is that it's free to play after purchasing the box. You're probably thinking, "Oh, well that means it'll be full of flashy, obnoxious cash shop buttons and pay-to-win gear." I'm extremely pleased to inform you of the contrary. The in-game gem store is not only subtle and polite, but it is filled with legitimately interesting cosmetic and convenience-providing items that in no-way harm the balance of the game.

The only downsides I can think of so far are related to the growing pains that any newly-released MMORPG is guaranteed to experience, but even those aren't that bad compared to other launches in my recent memory. Almost every "issue" GW2 is currently facing is related to the extreme burden placed on their network by the million + people enjoying the game. Over the week, secondary game features such as the trade post and mail system have been sporadically unavailable, but it's clear that they are making great progress in getting those services back up. If you're burnt out from the tedium and grind of linear themepark MMOs, take it from me: you should definitely check out Guild Wars 2.…Expand

First off, i don't see how people can say the graphics aren't good in this game. Turn all the settings to max and turn on supersampling and the textures are awesome .. that mixed with the art style and the world looks fantastic along the lines of AOC.. way better textures than skyrim.. (not hating on skyrim just proving a point). Hear people saying the dynamic events aren't reallingFirst off, i don't see how people can say the graphics aren't good in this game. Turn all the settings to max and turn on supersampling and the textures are awesome .. that mixed with the art style and the world looks fantastic along the lines of AOC.. way better textures than skyrim.. (not hating on skyrim just proving a point). Hear people saying the dynamic events aren't realling dynamic they are static and repeating, while that may be true they do a fantastic job in making the world feel alive and making it way easy to end up playing with other live people.. Loved it in Rift but the problem was they were always the same.. rift events.. no variety.. in GW2 they are different.. maybe repeating at the same area but as you explore they are varied.

I think the real seller though is the convienence factor.. everything that was a waste of time or annoying in other mmos they have made super easy.. Mail from anywhere, fast travel everywhere but only after you've explored it. No incredible grind. Quest rewards are mailed directly to you. Ways to gain xp are so varied. Head to unlock a vista encounter a dynamic event on the way back complete with 20 others.. do a heart find a point of interest.. etc etc. VS with other mmos -> Go to hub collect 10 quests on a list of tasks such as... collect 20 rat hides and vice versa .. go out and grind them down .. run back turn them in.. rinse and repeat. Armor customization is a breeze . Pvp is so easy to get into. Combat is Awesome for one reason really.. u can freakin move while channeling spells and abilites .. no stand in one spot for a 3 second channel .. Your constantly moving positioning.. casting channeling all at the same time. People say customization is limited.. only because it appears that way at the beginning.. throught traits , race abilites .. weapon skills and utility and healing skills and elite skills.. and 2 swapping weapons .. you actually have more options in the long run of interesting abilities than in other mmos.
Take for example .. i'm and elemental norn.. i can equip dual daggers ... and have 5 skills x 4 elements for 20 skills at one time just on that weapon loadout.. then u have sceptor / focus.. staves rods all with 5 skills x 4 elements.. on top of that is the utility skills unlocked and healing slot.. then transform into a bear or other creature with the norn race.. thats alot of thinks to do imo. Bottom line... Other mmo's is akin to clocking in and grinding... GW2 is akin to logging in and playing..
puts the fun back in this genre…Expand

Fun, if predictable and uneven. I have played all the major MMOs and have had the most fun with this one. It is well designed, accessible, and yet with depth and detail. My only issues have been minor and largely have to do with this being a new game (no auction house yet, etc). I can see this having the most playability and longevity of any game I have played in years.

Absolutely amazing game. This is the mmo that I've been waiting for. A wonderfully beautiful pve experience and a skill based meaning full pvp system! If you're an mmo fan, you are doing yourself a dis-service by not playing this game!

I think we already know a lot about GW2 so I'm only going to focus on somethings that might be confusing for people. [--A--] Game launches are unusually the peak performance you expect for a game (Take this into account for many negative reviews). [--B--] The combat system is neither stale nor overly hard. You can't expect to play this like other MMOs (I know some have said it's overlyI think we already know a lot about GW2 so I'm only going to focus on somethings that might be confusing for people. [--A--] Game launches are unusually the peak performance you expect for a game (Take this into account for many negative reviews). [--B--] The combat system is neither stale nor overly hard. You can't expect to play this like other MMOs (I know some have said it's overly complicated, and others have said it's a re-hash of other games, but in all honesty I have not seen this kind of flexibility in other MMOs. You can kite and hide and sliver your opponent down. Or you can play smart and blind your opponent, interrupt major attacks and not even move. I've done it both ways. People just aren't giving this game a unique opportunity like they should.) [--C--] ANet is awesome. Somehow I think too many people have left out the love and care that this company has for their game. At one point during the launch week, they shut down their store. Now before you consider this a flaw, think about it this way: They said it was to stop current customers from experiencing lag. This store is also their (so to speak) business model. They don't have a subscription, they try to make money off the initial purchase but also from their in-game store. And they shut it down. For customers to experience less lag from the few customers who were buying too much from them. And the content isn't hard for them to add. In one Beta Weekend Event they created something solely for that weekend that took up many players the whole weekend and it only took ANet 3 hours to install it. From "idea" to "working game copy". It just can't be stressed that ANet wants you to play a game and enjoy the art that they've worked very hard on. I find it hard to critique them when what they aimed to do.... they did very well.…Expand

The Best MMORPG on the market today, no.. the best MMORPG on the market since Ultima Online. This is close to perfection and Arenanet have delivered everything they said they would, a near flawless release and an experience unsurpassed in its genre.

Let me start of by saying two things first of all I do NOT give high scores for the sake of giving them and I usually only take time to write reviews if I really like the game. Second of all, all I have seen from the lower to mid ratings is complete jealousy that it beat out their favorite MMO. I'm sorry, but AN did so many things right and so little wrong.

I would like to go over someLet me start of by saying two things first of all I do NOT give high scores for the sake of giving them and I usually only take time to write reviews if I really like the game. Second of all, all I have seen from the lower to mid ratings is complete jealousy that it beat out their favorite MMO. I'm sorry, but AN did so many things right and so little wrong.

I would like to go over some things that I felt were not touched upon in several of these other reviews that are just so brilliant. First off the story, music, atmosphere, combat, pvp, and events are perfectly done and incredibly engaging anyone who says otherwise; it's just not their cup of tea or again they are jealous that it really is done this well. Arenanet's attention to detail is unfathomable, the amount of work that went into their puzzles and mazes and keeping it varied consistently is nothing short of extraordinary, you always feel like you are doing something new or different when you come upon these. Then their are skill challenges and if you are lucky enough to solo of these it really does give you a sense of difficulty and what you still need to master, whether it be timing, precision, or just combos. I really enjoy a particular one where the guy kept you laughing the entire time. Next, the group events these are not so much engaging as game changing literally. If you fail to stop a Giant attack on a city for example, then you will not be able to use any merchant or events in this area until that Giant has been taken down. Likewise whole areas can shift from control to NPC to enemies based on if you succeed or fail an event. There is alot more to touch up on, but I feel these few should give players an idea just what makes Guild Wars 2 so enticing.

Then we have to cons these range from miniscule bugs to the very simplistic crafting. The bugs from what I have seen so far are few and far between whether it's getting stuck in the map, creates that just give up, or NPCs that don't want to advance the story. There is always a workaround and they never bring you out of the experience. Then there is the crafting, which is mainly build up resources, refine said resources, use special materials to make inscriptions or insignias and repeat. I do like the discovery tab, but they give you almost zero recipes that are not common sense, really taking away the feeling of making something special to just the next thing on the list to get your bar higher. I feel if they added more mystery and adventure to their recipe making that people would have alot more fun crafting.

This is just a small slice of what GW2 have and the PROS well outweigh the CONS, do yourself a favor and give it a try for yourself with no subscription fee you never locked into anything and can quit anytime and pick it back up later. I feel that my purchased was well justified and I hope you will feel the same. I did want to say one more thing the WvW feels exactly like the brilliant mode from DAoC and can be jumped in at anytime, which offers its own rewards and xp towards PvE. There simply is too many thing to about, I just hope people who read this actually see a better reason to pick it up, as for me I am back to enjoying this game 100 fold.…Expand

GW2 is a groundbreaking, genre busting MMO. It introduces so many new gameplay concepts in the areas of combat, questing, crafting, travel, and more. The gameplay in GW2 emphasises minimal downtime and maximises fun activities. No grouping is required and there is no such thing as kill stealing. It naturally funnels players together to cooperate to complete quests, explore, and take downGW2 is a groundbreaking, genre busting MMO. It introduces so many new gameplay concepts in the areas of combat, questing, crafting, travel, and more. The gameplay in GW2 emphasises minimal downtime and maximises fun activities. No grouping is required and there is no such thing as kill stealing. It naturally funnels players together to cooperate to complete quests, explore, and take down world bosses. The combat system is active and direction based. There is no holy trinity and any player can fulfill many roles.

GW2 has a high level of polish and the artwork and music are sublime. The achievement system is extensive and there is also a guild achievement system. Everything you do in the game will earn you achievements, money, and experience. If you are tired of the same old MMO gameplay then you must try GW2. Leave what you know about "traditional" MMO's at the door and embrace the new gameplay concepts GW2 offers. This is the best MMO I have played in almost 8 years and has rejuvenated my interest in the genre. You won't be disappointed!…Expand

Others have already said it, even officially on reviewing websites, and I was one of the first to say it: yes, the long-awaited "WoW killer" is here! This doesn't mean that Blizzard will pack up and leave, but it means that WoW's near-monopoly, after 8 long years, is long gone now, thanks to Guild Wars 2.

This does [not] come from a Guild Wars or ArenaNet fanboy; on the contrary, I'm aOthers have already said it, even officially on reviewing websites, and I was one of the first to say it: yes, the long-awaited "WoW killer" is here! This doesn't mean that Blizzard will pack up and leave, but it means that WoW's near-monopoly, after 8 long years, is long gone now, thanks to Guild Wars 2.

This does [not] come from a Guild Wars or ArenaNet fanboy; on the contrary, I'm a WoW veteran who played WoW from day 1 EU release, and fell in love with WoW about 7 or 8 years ago, almost as much as I fell in love with Guild Wars 2 today! Believe me...if anyone can remember their excitement and love for WoW during the first week of release, hold that feeling and thought, and do know that GW2 can give you the same feeling [today]! If you let it.

Guild Wars 2 puts all the sins of WoW through the years in the trash can of gaming history: all the fighting, spite, ill-will, frustration, anger and hatred among players, fighting over the most trivial of things, like a metal ore node, or an epic drop...all that greed and spiteful competition that Blizzard bred in our hearts, turing WoW's community into one of the worst gaming communities around, with so many jerks and anti-social people moving around...even Blizzard's guild leadership policies today breed the worst feelings and can take away years of hard work and effort from a guild master if something happens in real life and they need to spend a prolonged period of time away from the game...that guild master can return to the game to find their guild simply gone! That's how far Blizzard has gone in creating a game that just literally breeds hatred, frustration, elitism, spiteful competition, and distrust in the hearts of its community. And frankly, I've been waiting for years now for a "WoW killer", at least personal one that can help get my social fun away from all this negativity. And that personal WoW killer is here, thanks to ArenaNet with their Guild Wars 2.

And let me tell you, I bought Guild Wars 1 at a bargain price, just to try it, and didn't like it at all. I bought Age of Conan, and it very quickly disappointed me. I never bought Rift because, although it was definitely a solid, polished, and fun game, it just felt like I'll be back to another WoW somehow. Never tried TERA because it was obviously a grind fest. Never bought The Secret World, even though I had hope in it in the very beginning; brilliant idea and nice creative new ideas, but unfortunately all gone to waste in bad graphics and uninspired or lackluster combat mechanics and feel...it's kind of like shooting a plastic gun compared to shooting the real thing at a shooting range, you know? SWTOR was lovely in many ways; I absolutely loved that each & every quest was spoken, loved the dialogue options in it, loved the romantic and partnership story twists that you can unearth while questing, but unfortunately, the graphics were uninspired and the combat, again, felt like shooting a plastic gun. After all those tries and years, finally Guild Wars 2 came along, with beautiful, awe-inspiring graphics (at least at the high settings with a gaming PC); lovely variety of world and personal quests (although they can certainly learn more from BioWare in this department and perfect the writing and storytelling further in GW2); soothing or motivating music; impressive sound effects, some of which have even already become iconic, like "Refreshing!", which is used by GuildHead as the punchline after the website name nowadays; and the icing of the cake, absolutely awesome combat mechanics [and] visuals...I'm telling you, just walking around killing stuff, without any NPC asking me, is sooo much fun in GW2! Combat is just inspiring and awesome in Guild War 2, literally! Whatever it is you choose to be, or whichever Profession (GW2's term for "class") you choose, combat just feels solid, awesome, and good, and [looks] good. If you are a Warrior wielding a two-handed hammer, it feels the whole freakin' ground is shaking once you land that final slam on the enemy; if you are a Ranger wielding a bow, everyone around you can see and hear your rain of arrows falling on groups of enemies; if you are an Engineer or Thief, dual-wielding pistols, you feel like a cowboy from the wild west just bam-bamming enemies; if you are an Elemental, you can see and hear your enemies wailing & see them flailing madly from your fire spells as they breath their last and roll on the ground then stop forever and ...all that, in any Profession, you are dodging attacks and strafing right & left (if you want) whichever spell or attack you're pulling. Combat in GW2...is...just...awesome!

Looks great, feels great, sounds great, plays great, runs great. PvP is perfectly balanced, PvE is dynamic and interesting, World vs World is always changing and has such an epic scale. The Music is by Jeremy Soule. The achievements system rewards you for every aspect of the game, which is good, because this is the best MMORPG ever created.

My experience with Guild Wars 2 has been exceptional. There are some minor flaws but the good qualities far outweigh the bad in Guild Wars 2. I'll start with the flaws: 1. I have come across one or two skill challenges and events are broken. 2. The way in which quests and events are presented does encourage players to work together towards something but I feel like it almost discouragesMy experience with Guild Wars 2 has been exceptional. There are some minor flaws but the good qualities far outweigh the bad in Guild Wars 2. I'll start with the flaws: 1. I have come across one or two skill challenges and events are broken. 2. The way in which quests and events are presented does encourage players to work together towards something but I feel like it almost discourages social player interaction because in many cases, nothing needs to be said to accomplish a goal. 3. Many of the utility skills seem useless to me for PVP or PVE. However, this could just be due to my lack of experience with my profession or the game in general. 4. Lack of tutorial. This is actually a plus for me because I like figuring things out, but I can see how this would frustrate some people.

The good points in Guild Wars 2 result in a much longer list for me, so I will just stick to the major points: 1. Doing arbitrary redundant tasks (such as traveling back to a city to free up inventory space) are nearly eliminated. 2. With the character creation options, armor dyes, utility skills, trait points, transmutation, and weapon selection - character customization is on par, if not better, than any MMO out there. I have yet to see another Charr Necromancer that looks like me, so finding one that does look like me and has the same weapons/traits/skills seems highly unlikely. 3. Questing/exploration structure is very well thought out and dynamic events prevent the boredom from setting in. 4. Compared to other MMOs and similar games, the launch of GW2 went VERY smooth. There are minimal bugs and plenty of content at launch 5. Doing lower level content is still challenging and rewarding. To my knowledge, this is the first MMO to accomplish this and it opens up a staggering amount of additional content to play through. 6. Any race/profession combo is allowed 7. Players are encouraged to work together. You get good rewards for participating in an event, you get exp for reviving another player, exp and rewards are given to all players that participate, and resource nodes cannot be "stolen" by another player. 8. Graphics are really good. I have a very nice gaming computer and I still can get 95-100% use out of both my GPUs on high settings. Not many games on PC do that for me. 9. PVP is well balanced at launch! Making everybody level 80 for PvP is a brilliant idea too.…Expand

This game is simply amazing and deserves all the praise that it gets. It's not perfect, as I'll explain in my review, but the fact that it does everything so much better than any other MMO out there earns it a 10 in my opinion. Bugs and server issues are to be expected with a game like this, and those will get fixed. People who like to bash this game are usually people who only play MMO'sThis game is simply amazing and deserves all the praise that it gets. It's not perfect, as I'll explain in my review, but the fact that it does everything so much better than any other MMO out there earns it a 10 in my opinion. Bugs and server issues are to be expected with a game like this, and those will get fixed. People who like to bash this game are usually people who only play MMO's like WoW and aren't capable of adapting to anything different.

A problem I see a lot of people make is they go into low level zones and do the easy events there and just button mash or try to do "rotations" and assume the combat is dull and easy because they are able to get away with that. Try some higher level dungeons or PvP against skilled players and you will see that there are no "rotations" in this game. You have to adapt to what is going on in the fight and use your abilities wisely so you don't waste them at times when they aren't as helpful. And I saw someone mention dodging doesn't work and they still get hit? This person obviously doesn't know what they are doing because dodging works 100% of the time.

The dynamic events DO make a difference in the world. Not all of them do, and even the ones that do make a difference don't always do it in a huge way. But the fact that some can and do make a big difference in the world easily makes this system better than the standard quest system found in most MMOs. Something to keep in mind too is that these events often trigger new events when they complete. Stick around a while and pay attention to what the NPC's are saying and doing after an event, it adds a lot of immersion to the game.

The weakest part of Guild Wars 2 is the personal storyline. I definitely has some cheesiness to it. But again, most MMO's don't even have anything like this (except for SWTOR of course). So it's better than not having it at all.

I see a problem with people complaining about security too, and for the most part they are right. It would have been nice if ArenaNet had implemented some type of authentication system BEFORE release. However, myself and many others have been playing without these issues. Just don't be an idiot and use the same password for every game/website you go to.…Expand

What makes Guild Wars 2 superior to the other MMO's past years?
I'ts really hard to point out just one thing which makes it superior to World of Warcraft, RIFT, Secret World and all the other MMO's out there. Yes, it's generic high-fantasy world, but it feels like there's more actual interaction with the world than in other generic-high-fantasy MMO's, the world feels like it's alive, it'sWhat makes Guild Wars 2 superior to the other MMO's past years?
I'ts really hard to point out just one thing which makes it superior to World of Warcraft, RIFT, Secret World and all the other MMO's out there. Yes, it's generic high-fantasy world, but it feels like there's more actual interaction with the world than in other generic-high-fantasy MMO's, the world feels like it's alive, it's more immerse than we've seen before in any MMO.
The leveling system is quite neat as well. Where as other MMO's aim for individualism Guild Wars 2 puts much emphasis on word TEAMWORK. There's on individual experience from mobs, they're all shared with all the other player participating in killing, sharing is caring right? The tasks are completed by a few different ways, so you feel like you can finish a quest like you want to, you don't always have to kill trillions of mobs, you can for example pick up trash or something like that, isn't quite revolutionary, but brings a great feel of freedom to it.
The combat mechanics is actually great, not your basic-button-smashing-and-standing-still-style of combat, you actually have to move and dodge actively and use your snares and stuns in order to survive. This is very rewarding that your individual skill might help you bring down a more powerful enemy rather than your statistics.
The PVP has that same skill mechanic implemented, since you have to dodge and move around corners to avoid damage and do that really challenging skill requiring dance that you do on PvE as well. The World vs. World vs. World is a great thing, you fight for your own realms benefits, which is quite neat and it seems balanced enough, realms who run over other realms get moved up and those who cannot cope will be placed with weaker opponents to guarantee at least some bonuses for your realm.

Why aren't I giving a 10 to a game that is great?
Several technical issues I might say. A-net still has to work on stability and WvW lag-issues and trading post issues of course. In pre-launch everything worked at least good but then came the launch and the lags and everything went to full **** but now a few weeks after the launch everything seems good, minor lags and bugs still exist, but nothing too bad anymore.

In conclusion Guild Wars 2 renews the MMO-genre enough to fight against the big mighty World of Warcraft but still keeps some basics untouched which is a must if you want to attract people to play. Watch out World of Warcraft, you got a challenger....And it's gonna kick your Panda-ass all the way through Tyria.…Expand

I played and enjoyed the first Guild Wars for years. When Guild Wars 2 came out I wasn't sure what to expect, I tried the beta and I loved it immediately. Everything that annoyed me in Guild Wars is fixed in Guild Wars 2. The only thing that worried me at first glance was the absence of the dual profession mechanic which I loved in the first Guild Wars; it offered so many possibilities!I played and enjoyed the first Guild Wars for years. When Guild Wars 2 came out I wasn't sure what to expect, I tried the beta and I loved it immediately. Everything that annoyed me in Guild Wars is fixed in Guild Wars 2. The only thing that worried me at first glance was the absence of the dual profession mechanic which I loved in the first Guild Wars; it offered so many possibilities! But the weapon swapping in GW2 is probably even more interesting simply because it gives you access to a larger bank of skills; skills are defined by the weapon you are holding. You can switch weapons dynamically during combat which is awesome and you can even change your skills any time during the game, no need to go to an outpost to reorganise your skill bar. Elementalists don't have the weapon swapping ability but they can switch between four attunements(air, fire, water and earth) anytime during combat... awesome! What sets GW2 apart from other games of the genre is the dynamic events which can occur anywhere, anytime in the world, and they require cooperation between players; downed allies can be revived eliminating the frustration of being teleported to a resurection shrine and having to walk all the way back. Areas are no longer instanced except for dungeons and story line missions. There is no tedious fetching quests anymore. Instead quests occur in specific locations on the map and you don't have to stray too far to complete them. You can now choose between five different races: Human, Charr, Asura and Silvari. They all have the same stats and abilities but they add a nice flavor to the game. Crafting disciplines were added which opens up a whole new dimension to Guild Wars. The trading post (the equivalent of the auction house in WoW or Diablo) is a nice addition. Item stats are more varied and make more sense than before. Graphics are amazing for MMO standards and the areas are breathtaking. I cannot comment on the PvP aspect of the game as I haven't tried it yet. The only annoying thing I can find is the constant pop-ups telling you that you are in an overflow because the instance is full but that will hopefully be fixed soon. So if you love MMOs or RPGs Guild Wars 2 is a must!…Expand

Absolutely astounding. There's something for everyone, even the ex-WoW veterans. PvP is truly skill-based, not about who has the better gear. World vs. Word (read: server vs. server) is a perfectly chaotic clusterf*ck, PvE is never boring with events around and dungeons on top, plus there's lots of uncharted exploration. At $60 and no monthly fee, it is a much better deal than ToR for $60Absolutely astounding. There's something for everyone, even the ex-WoW veterans. PvP is truly skill-based, not about who has the better gear. World vs. Word (read: server vs. server) is a perfectly chaotic clusterf*ck, PvE is never boring with events around and dungeons on top, plus there's lots of uncharted exploration. At $60 and no monthly fee, it is a much better deal than ToR for $60 and $15 a month. Also unlike ToR it is not a bleak, repetitive game that rewards time investment over skill.

A piece of advice for reading reviews - if they say they quit after an hour, their review simply doesn't count. You can NOT see this game in an hour. It is most akin, like it's predecessor, to Magic: the Gathering. It is a complex, nuanced, combinatorial, tactical experience that leverages your "deck building" (read: skill selecting) skills as much as your reaction time (there's collision detection and realistic, live-action dodge-rolling) and time management skills (to rez, or not to rez?).

I am stunned. Truly stunned.
There has been a long line of MMORPGs ever since World of Warcraft designed the genre. Many were predicted to be "WoW killers" or "Revolutionary", but many lost their subscribers or switched to a free-to-play model a few months later. It's only been a few weeks for Guild Wars 2, but the content I have experiences so far is so breathtaking that I see no wayI am stunned. Truly stunned.
There has been a long line of MMORPGs ever since World of Warcraft designed the genre. Many were predicted to be "WoW killers" or "Revolutionary", but many lost their subscribers or switched to a free-to-play model a few months later. It's only been a few weeks for Guild Wars 2, but the content I have experiences so far is so breathtaking that I see no way now, or any time in the future, that this game will die out. This game adds so much depth, creativity, and fun to the MMORPG genre that I can see it becoming a new home for the MMO players who have been looking for a new one. This game IS revolutionary, and it IS going to last a long time. I don't have to go into detail about the game to prove my point, just go out and buy it. No subscription fee makes this an extremely worthy investment.…Expand

This game is amazing, beautiful and so alive, compared to other MMORPGs out in the market right now. I've played World of Warcraft for 3 years now and it was fun, for those 3 whole years. But let me just say that when I played Guild Wars 2, it felt like I had more fun than in those 3 years of playing World of Warcraft. Some people might ask, what can this game offer that other gamesThis game is amazing, beautiful and so alive, compared to other MMORPGs out in the market right now. I've played World of Warcraft for 3 years now and it was fun, for those 3 whole years. But let me just say that when I played Guild Wars 2, it felt like I had more fun than in those 3 years of playing World of Warcraft. Some people might ask, what can this game offer that other games cannot? Well, my answer to that is "life". What ArenaNet did to the game was not only to make a game enjoyable by everyone, but also make a game with a world that feels so immersible and alive. Just yesterday, before I wrote this review, I was playing GW2 with my brother, finding and mining ores until suddenly an NPC just came up to us and asked us to help his village. And we just followed the NPC. And by the time we arrived at his village, it as overrun by centaurs. So me and my brother fought and won and it was a really satisfying experience. Another example was when the NPCs just go about their lives, talking about their past adventures and making moves no other NPCs from MMORPGs can do. But this is just a fraction of detail as to how the world is alive. You will find out more when you play the game itself.

Another feature is the personal story. This is a very big rpg element which was introduced to GW2 and I have to say, ArenaNet did an amazing job. The personal story lets you choose from plenty of choices which will affect how your character interacts with other NPCs and how his story will be laid out. The personal story is not like SWTOR's character story. In SWTOR, it just like letting your character play a big script and the only choices you make will affect only how you interact with your companions but it is different in GW2 since the choices you make will actually affect your character, your home instance, your NPC friends and your story. For example, you are given two choices to either save your friend or the city, when you choose your friend, there be more branches added to the story, but if you choose the city, different branches will also be added. So in short, everything you choose in your Personal Story will affect everything about your story.

The features that I gave above are only a tiny bit of the features Guild Wars 2 has to offer. IF you want to find out more. Buy the game and see for yourself :D I guarantee you will like it.

For me, I feel that Guild Wars 2 really deserves the GOTY award, although I am not sure if MMORPGs can win GOTY awards at all.

So to anyone who reads this. I gave Guild Wars 2 a perfect 10 because of my experience with the game and not how the game is presented, so our opinions may vary.

So once again, buy the game and if you like it, then have fun :D…Expand

I was backing this game before it came out, just like I did with the first guild wars, I played beta with both games, and liked what I saw, but again, I feel the way I felt with the first one, boring, clunky, and no, there is still no better MMO then WOW, " in the fantasy mmo world". I hate what WOW has become, but yet, it destroys this game in every facet of mmo's. I see alot of peopleI was backing this game before it came out, just like I did with the first guild wars, I played beta with both games, and liked what I saw, but again, I feel the way I felt with the first one, boring, clunky, and no, there is still no better MMO then WOW, " in the fantasy mmo world". I hate what WOW has become, but yet, it destroys this game in every facet of mmo's. I see alot of people saying gw2 is better PVP, I don't think it's even close to WOW's pvp. I made an 80 in less then 1 week, wtf is that? sorry, but this game has too many flaws and shortcummings that have been explained by others. I've been wanting an mmo to replace WOW for quite sometime, this isn't it. Graphics are over-rated, pvp/pve is hugely over-rated. Professions are silly....just not my cup of tea. Still, all and all, it's a descent mmo for the casual player new to the genre, and may grow on you. Also, yeah, there's no month fee like other mmo's, but it still cost money to have internet, for me, over $60 a month, so, this game is not free to me at all, if there was an offline pve mode, or an ability to run my own dedicated server with some friends for pve, then, yeah....it's free afterwards. Good luck to arenanet, and for those who love this game, I'm happy for you, me, I'll be waiting for the next mmo, maybe elderscrolls online ha ha.…Expand

I recently thought this game was bad and rated it accordingly, however i felt like i had not given it a proper chance. After playing the game a bit longer I have learned it is not as basic and simple as I have thought, now it is really starting to pull me in. Great game 10/10

Amazing Game, unlike any other mmo when it come to leveling.
Experience is gained from almost doing anything, from crafting to exploring and all things in between.
There is something for every type of player, no need to play 500 hours to feel your character is getting some wear.
Anet's very strict enforcement of the rules is making the play experience that much better, I am sure manyAmazing Game, unlike any other mmo when it come to leveling.
Experience is gained from almost doing anything, from crafting to exploring and all things in between.
There is something for every type of player, no need to play 500 hours to feel your character is getting some wear.

Anet's very strict enforcement of the rules is making the play experience that much better, I am sure many casual players are familiar with the "rage" that follows when 1 mistake is made.
NO such thing in Guild Wars 2, unlike some other MMO's where abuse of fellow players is ignored
Suspensions and bans are handed out to the abusive players.

No need to be afraid to try something new because you don't know if some other player is going to start harassing you for not knowing how to play your first time.…Expand

Im sorry, i really reallt tried to like this game, but i just cant bring myself around to like this "revolutionary" mmo. The combat is stale at its best, the term "Dynamic combat" may be something cool for a WoW player, but if you have played a game with a true dynamic combat system (TERA) you will find the fighting in GW2 just as autonomous as in for exampe Warhammer online.

SpeakingIm sorry, i really reallt tried to like this game, but i just cant bring myself around to like this "revolutionary" mmo. The combat is stale at its best, the term "Dynamic combat" may be something cool for a WoW player, but if you have played a game with a true dynamic combat system (TERA) you will find the fighting in GW2 just as autonomous as in for exampe Warhammer online.

Speaking of Warhammer online, this game has to be compared to that game, leave out games like WoW. GW2 has taken alot of the things from the Warhammer game and tried to make it better, the result is a lukewarm mix where nothing really feels thought thru. The exploration part is uninspired and offers little to the game, im Warhammer Online, you were also encouraged to explore and more then often you were rewarded with some unique cloack, title or decoration for your armor. In GW2 all i get is a xp boost and a camerashot of something the devs are perticulary proud of. Shure, you get a chest when you complete all the different Heart quests, points of interest and vistas in an area, but the journey to that reward is long and tedious. Another feature lifted from the Warhammer game is these "Dynamic events". You get to an area where an event is happening, you participate in this event and get a reward upon completion. On some events there are maybe two three stages, with new rewards for each stage completed. Warhammer did this to, but had a problem with scaling depending on the amount of ppl there. Most of the time you would get nowhere since the event dident scale down and the world was fairly empty. GW2 sees to fix this issue and does it pretty good, most events are managable no matter how many are participating, but the reward system is a joke. I once came to an event, shot one spell towards one mob and got a Gold Medal for my role in the event. One time six out of eight cubs i was set to protect died, still got a gold medal. In Warhammer, the event would count the acctual amount of work i did (dmg, tanking, healing, mobs killed) and add that amount to a random dice roll, the higher the score the better the loot. This was a system that encouraged people to do their role and do it well for the phattest loot. In GW2 i can just afk thru the whole event and still get a great reward.

The mentioned combat is very chaotic. In events with more then five people attending im having a heard time figuring out who does what, what spells are hostile towards me and what my character actually is doing. This is part to this "role-less class system" where there are no clear "Tank" or "Healer", everyone can do everything and they all do it equally bad. Insead of having clear class-roles that you need to protect (help the tank, heal the tank, make shure healer is not getting killed) the GW2 approach seems to be to "zerg" everything. Shure, it looks pretty awesome when 20+ people cather at one spot to do an event, but in the end it feels like none of us have a real identity. I cast some spells, i gave some buffs and debuffs, but so did everyone else. Playing GW2 feels to me like beeing an ant. Im a small insignificant person with generic abilities and skills. Im in a huge world with tons of stuff to see but when i do get to that ellusive mountain top, all i get is a nice view and then have to face the long walk back down again. The world keeps on going without me, events will keep on happening and quests will be solved. I dont feel like a hero, i feel like me, an ant in a big world that manages to go on just fine without me, and thats not what i want.…Collapse

GW2 has made a powerful impact on the MMO scene, confirming years of expectations. Stunning presentation and revolutionary design guarantee a thoroughly enjoyable experience. However, it’s not flawless, nor complete. The beautiful vistas, the massive PvP element, the rich leveling experience- those can offer hours of gameplay, but the endgame is desperately seeking for enrichment. [November 2012]

After spending fifty hours with GW2, I have a lot of praise for ArenaNet's work and the way it changes up some of the typical trappings of the MMO. And yet, I find myself thinking less and less about it each day. It's not a declaration against the product, mind you, but simply a fact that this game still is very much an MMO, and your enjoyment will directly relate to how much you enjoy the genre. For many who were hoping for a clean break from MMO design philosophy, Guild Wars 2 will probably come across as a slight disappointment. It pushes the genre slightly forward, however, and could lead to even further development in the future.